Gerry Brand

Gerhard Hamilton Brand (8 October 1906 – 4 February 1996) was a Springbok rugby union footballer who played in 16 tests between 1928 and 1938. Brand has been described as the best kicker of his era, According to Guinness World Records he executed the longest drop goal in rugby union to date. Brand's 55 test career points for the Springboks set a 27-year record (1938–65), which was eventually surpassed by Keith Oxlee.

Early life Gerhard Hamilton Brand received his second name for the Hamilton Rugby Football Club in Sea Point, Cape Town, which had won the Western Province Rugby Football Union's 1906 Grand Challenge Cup club competition two days before his birth. He grew up in Sea Point and learnt rugby from the age of 8.

He attended Sea Point Boys High School, In 1936 Brand helped Hamiltons win the provincial championship, a feat the club did not repeat for the next 73 years. The club instituted the Gerry Brand trophy for best full-back which was awarded to a Hamiltonian annually.

During the rugby off-season Brand and his fellow Hamilton players supported and played for the local baseball team, the Sea Point Cardinals. A 1934 Australian newspaper described Brand as an accomplished baseball player, The newspaper speculated that Brand could be chosen for a proposed exchange of baseball tours between South Africa and Japan. In 1934 Brand established a Currie Cup series record of 70 points in 6 matches – 67 points from kicks and 3 points from a solitary try.

In 1945 Brand played his last match for the Western Province before retiring from rugby. His 209 points in all for the tour became another long-standing record. Brand kicked 69 conversions, which continues to be the record for most conversions on a Springbok tour. The team lost only two matches and was regarded as the unofficial world rugby champions. Brand and his 1937 teammates remain the only Springbok team so far "to win a full test series on New Zealand soil".

On their 1938 tour to South Africa the British and Irish Lions encountered Brand in three defeats. He captained the Western Province Town and Country XV which handed the Lions their first defeat on tour. Brand's wide-angled kick during the dying minutes of the game propelled his team to an 11–8 victory. At Cape Town's Newlands Stadium Brand led the Western Province to a 21–11 triumph to which he contributed nine points.

The test against the Lions proved to be Brand's last international game, as he picked up a recurring thigh injury during preparations for the second test. In all he turned out in 46 matches for the Springboks, scoring 293 points – a record only surpassed in the 1990s by the Springbok fly-half Naas Botha. Brand's tally still placed him 6th on the 2013 list of most points scored in all Springbok matches.

Danie Craven said of Brand: "I regard him, along with Bennie Osler, as a legend among legends – an unforgettable Springbok". Later he lived in Fish Hoek outside Cape Town, and suffered a light stroke in 1987.

International statistics Brand played in 16 tests for the Springboks during which he scored 55 points. He was renowned for never missing an important kick.

Summary Team – Test matches16 14 0 2 0 13 7 2 55 – Tour matches 30 na na na 2 87 18 1 238 na

Test match record No Opponents Results (SA 1st) Position Points Dates Venue 1. 7–6 Wing 21 Jul 1928 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 2. 11–6 Wing 18 Aug 1928 Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth 3. 8–3 Full-back 5 Des 1931 St Helen's, Swansea 4. 8–3 Full-back 19 Dec 1931 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 5. 7–0 Full-back 4 (1 drop) 2 Jan 1932 Twickenham, London 6. 6–3 Full-back 19 Jan 1932 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 7. 17–3 Full-back 5 (1 penalty & 1 conversion) 8 Jul 1933 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 8. 6–21 Full-back 3 (1 penalty) 22 Jul 1933 Kingsmead, Durban 9. 12–3Full-back 2 (1 conversion) 12 Aug 1933 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 10. 11–0 Wing 3 (1 penalty) 26 Aug 1933 Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth 11. 4–15 Wing 4 (1 drop) 2 Sep 1933 Springbok Park, Bloemfontein 12. 9–3 Full-back3 (1 penalty) 26 Jun 1937 Sydney Cricket Ground 13. 26–17 Full-back 8 (4 conversions) 17 Jul 1937 Sydney Cricket Ground 14. 13–6 Full-back 7 (1 penalty & 2 conversions) 4 Sep 1937 Lancaster Park, Christchurch 15. 17–6 Full-back 2 (1 conversion) 25 Sep 1937 Eden Park, Auckland 16. British Isles 26–12 Full-back 14 (2 penalties & 4 conversions) 6 Aug 1938 Ellis Park, Johannesburg Legend: try (3 pts); pen = penalty (3 pts.); conv = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (4 pts.).