Theo Jansen van Rensburg


Jan Theodorus 'Theo' Jansen van Rensburg, is a former South African rugby union player who played for the South Africa national rugby union team. He played as fullback.

Playing career

Provincal rugby

Van Rensburg represented Western Transvaal at the Craven Week for High Schools in 1984 and 1985 and also represented Western Transvaal at under–20 level. In 1989 he made his senior provincial debut for Northern Transvaal. Van Rensburg relocated to Transvaal in 1992 and made his Springbok debut as a Transvaal player. He moved back to Northern Transvaal in 1995, after which he also played for Eastern Province and South Western Districts.

Springboks

He played his first test match for the Springboks on 15 Augustus 1992 against New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. At the end of 1992 Van Rensburg toured with the Springboks to France and England, but played in only one test on tour, that against England. Van Rensburg also toured with the Springboks to Australia in 1993 and as a replacement, to New Zealand in 1994. His last test was on 23 July 1994 against New Zealand at Athletic Park in Wellington. He scored 40 points in test matches for the Springboks and also played in 15 tour matches scoring 142 points.

Test history

No.OppositionResult PositionPointsDateVenue
1.24–27Full-back15 August 1992Ellis Park, Johannesburg
2.3–26Full-back22 August 1992Newlands, Cape Town
3.16–33Full-back14 November 1992Twickenham, London
4.20–20Full-back15 26 June 1993Kings Park Stadium, Durban
5.17–18Full-back12 3 July 1993Ellis Park, Johannesburg
6.19–12Full-back4 31 July 1993Aussie Stadium, Sydney
7.9–13Full-back9 23 July 1994Athletic Park, Wellington

Legend: pen = penalty ; conv = conversion, drop = drop kick.

Accolades

Van Rensburg was voted as one of the five Young Players of the Year for 1990, along with Andrew Aitken, Jannie Claassens, Bernard Fourie and Ian MacDonald.