The Namibia Rugby Union yesterday led tributes for rugby legend Gerhard Mans, who died yesterday morning in a horrific road accident on Windhoek’s Western Bypass after he was struck by a car while cycling.
Mans, who was 60 years old and widely hailed as a rugby stalwart in post-independent Namibia, is also the father of Namibia’s professional cyclist and 2014 Commonwealth Games participant, Gerhard Mans Jnr.
NRU chief executive officer John Heynes yesterday described Mans’ passing as a huge loss not only to the local rugby fraternity, but to the country’s entire sports sector as the late Mans was a reliable institutional memory and always ready to guide and assist where needed.
“It is indeed sad news for all. From the NRU, our heartfelt condolences to the Mans family and the entire rugby and sports community. He remained a legend and a hero to many players on the rugby field, even many years after his retirement. He was a very strong person who will be remembered for his contribution to rugby before and after Namibia’s independence. Gerhard will always be remembered as the most prominent rugby legend of this country,” said Heynes, who was joined by an array of prominent sports personalities in paying homage to the departed Mans.
Mans, who was also a celebrated cycling enthusiast, made his senior provincial debut in South Africa for the Free State in 1982. In 1985, he returned to his home country Namibia (South West Africa at the time).
In 1987, Mans was appointed as captain of South West Africa and under his leadership during 1987, South West Africa won the B division of the Currie Cup and gained promotion to the A division for the 1988 season.
In 1990, Namibia gained independence, and consequently withdrew from South African rugby competitions. Mans was then selected as captain of the first Namibian national senior side after independence, which played its first test match on 24 March 1990 in Windhoek against Zimbabwe. Mans duly scored one of his team’s six tries in a 33-18 victory.
In his second test against Portugal, he scored a record six tries. He went on to play 27 test matches and scored 26 tries for Namibia, and also captained the team 26 times.
The only occasion when he did not captain the team was during the 1995 World Cup qualifying final group stages against the Ivory Coast, when he played as a replacement and the team was captained by Henning Snyman.
Mans, who was born in Karasburg in southern Namibia, retired at the end of the 1994 season after Namibia failed to qualify for the 1995 World Cup. He was one of the five nominees for the 1988 SA Rugby Player of the Year award.
The other nominees for the award were Adolf Malan, Calla Scholtz, Tiaan Strauss and the eventual winner of the award, Naas Botha. - ohembapu@nepc.com.na