Rudi Visagie

Rudolf Gerhardus Visagie (born 27 June 1959 in Nelspruit, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player, who played lock.[1]

Rudi Visagie

Birth name	Rudolf Gerhardus Visagie
Date of birth	(1959-06-27) 27 June 1959
Place of birth	Nelspruit, South Africa
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	138 kg (304 lb)
School	Rob Ferreira High School, White River
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1980–1986 Free State 109 () 1987–1993 Natal 109 () 1994–1995 Lowveld ? () 1996 South Eastern Transvaal 16 () National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1984–1993 South Africa 5

Playing career

Visagie made his provincial debut for the Free State in 1980. He played 109 matches for Free State during the seven seasons with the union. In 1987, Visagie joined the Natal and also played 109 matches in seven seasons for Natal. After Natal, Visagie played for Lowveld and South Eastern Transvaal.

Visagie made his test debut for the Springboks in 1984 against the touring English team captained by John Scott. Visagie played in all four test matches during the 1984 season, after which nine years lapsed before his next test match in 1993 against France.[2] Visagie also toured with the Springboks to Australia in 1993. He did not play in any tests during the 1993 tour, but played in 4 tour matches, scoring one try. He was known for his great ball- and running skills, and was a very strong scrummaging lock.

Test history

No.	Opposition	Result (SA 1st)	Position	Tries	Date	Venue
1.	England	33–15	Lock		2 June 1984	Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
2.	England	35–9	Lock		9 June 1984	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
3.	South American Jaguars	32–15	Lock		20 October 1984	Loftus Versveld, Pretoria
4.	South American Jaguars	21–13	Lock		27 October 1984	Newlands, Cape Town
5.	France	20–20	Lock		26 June 1993	Kings Park, Durban

Trivia

With a weight of 138 kg, Visagie holds the record as the heaviest Springbok rugby player.[3][4]

See also

• List of South Africa national rugby union players – Springbok no. 536

References

1. "Rudi Visagie". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
2. Jooste, Graham K. (1995). South African rugby test players 1949-1995. Johannesburg: Penguin. pp. 115–118, 130. ISBN 0140250174. OCLC 36916860.
3. Grieb, Eddie (2016). SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY ANNUAL 2016. Cape Town: SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY. p. 224. ISBN 0620692901. OCLC 957740131.
4. SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY ANNUAL 2019 : the official yearbook of south african rugby. Cape Town: SOUTH AFRICAN RUGBY. 2019. p. 165. ISBN 0620818085. OCLC 1089860189.