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Ockert Wessel "Ockie" Oosthuizen (1 April 1955 – 3 December 2019) was a South African rugby player. He was capped nine times, scoring one try.

Rugby career

Oosterhuizen was born in Johannesburg. He first played for Western Transvaal (now known as the Leopards) as a 20-year-old in 1975, and later moved on to provincial giants Northern Transvaal (Blue Bulls) winning the Currie Cup in 1981 and Transvaal (Golden Lions). He made his international debut against Ireland in 1981 and was part of the ill-fated 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand.

Oosthuizen quit rugby in 1985, as he was unhappy with the rugby administration at the time. Along with former Transvaal centre Dries Maritz, he tried to negotiate better financial advantages for their fellow players, which inevitably led to numerous clashes with the powers that be. He later had to appear in front of disciplinary committee after allegations of receiving payment for playing from the Rand Afrikaanse Universiteit (Rand Afrikaans University, now the University of Johannesburg). Although he won the case after an appeal, he was never selected for Transvaal again. He then briefly served as chairman of the now-defunct Randburg RFC, before getting fed up with the politics of the game.

Test history

No.	Opposition	Result (SA 1st)	Position	Tries	Date	Venue
1.	Ireland	23–15	Reserve		30 May 1981	Newlands, Cape Town
2.	Ireland	12–10	Tighthead prop		6 June 1981	Kings Park Stadium, Durban
3.	New Zealand	24–12	Loosehead prop		29 August 1981	Athletic Park, Wellington
4.	New Zealand	22–25	Loosehead prop		12 September 1981	Eden Park, Auckland
5.	United States	38–7	Loosehead prop		20 September 1981	Owl Creek Polo ground, Glenville, New York
6.	South American Jaguars	50–18	Loosehead prop	1	27 March 1982	Loftus Versveld, Pretoria
7.	South American Jaguars	12–21	Loosehead prop		3 April 1982	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
8.	England	33–15	Loosehead prop		2 June 1984	Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
9.	England	35–9	Loosehead prop		9 June 1984	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

Life after rugby

After his retirement from playing, he went into business and became chairman of a company specializing in financial services. In the early 1990s, he got involved in efforts to restart rugby league in South Africa.

See also

• List of South Africa national rugby union players – Springbok no. 520
• Rugby league in South Africa

References

1. "Former Springbok prop Ockie Oosthuizen dies". Sport. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
2. "Ockie Oosthuizen". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
3. (in Afrikaans) OCKIE OOSTHUIZEN: Die korrelkop-stut Rugbypolitiek te veel vir hom
4. Luyt (2003), pg 153.

Bibliography

• Luyt, Louis (2003). Walking Proud. Don Nelson. ISBN 1-86806-212-0.

External links

• Ockie Oosthuizen at ESPNscrum
• Ockie Oosthuizen at the Springbok Rugby Hall of Fame

• 1955 births
• 2019 deaths
• South African rugby union players
• South Africa international rugby union players
• Afrikaner people
• South African people of Dutch descent
• Rugby union props
• Rugby union players from Johannesburg
• Blue Bulls players