Gerhard Hamilton Brand

Fullback for the South African Springboks.

Gerry Brand
Full names: Gerhard Hamilton
Date of birth: 8 Oct 1906
Place of birth: Cape Town
School: Sea Point, Cape Town
Springbok no: 204
Debut test province: Western Province
Physical: 1.78m, 73.9kg
Date of death: 4 Feb 1996 (Age 89)

Test summary: Tests: 16 Tries: 0
First Test: 21 Jul 1928 Age:21 Right Wing against New Zealand at Ellispark, Johannesburg
Last Test: 6 Aug 1938 Age:31 Full Back against Britain at Ellispark, Johannesburg

Test history:
Date Age Position Opponent Result Score Venue Prov
21 Jul 1928 21 Right Wing New Zealand Lose: 6-7 Ellispark, Johannesburg WP
18 Aug 1928 21 Right Wing New Zealand Win: 11-6 Crusaders (St George's Park), Port Elizabeth WP
05 Dec 1931 25 Full Back Wales Win: 8-3 St. Helens, Swansea WP
19 Dec 1931 25 Full Back Ireland Win: 8-3 Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin WP
02 Jan 1932 25 Full Back England Win: 7-0 1 dropgoal Twickenham, London WP
16 Jan 1932 25 Full Back Scotland Win: 6-3 Murrayfield, Edinburgh WP
08 Jul 1933 26 Full Back Australia Win: 17-3 1 conversion, 1 penalty Newlands, Cape Town WP
22 Jul 1933 26 Full Back Australia Lose: 6-21 1 penalty Kingsmead, Durban WP
12 Aug 1933 26 Full Back Australia Win: 12-3 1 conversion Ellispark, Johannesburg WP
26 Aug 1933 26 Right Wing Australia Win: 11-0 1 penalty Crusaders (St George's Park), Port Elizabeth WP
02 Sep 1933 26 Right Wing Australia Lose: 4-15 1 dropgoal Springbokpark, Bloemfontein WP
26 Jun 1937 30 Full Back Australia Win: 9-5 1 penalty Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney WP
17 Jul 1937 30 Full Back Australia Win: 26-17 4 conversions Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney WP
04 Sep 1937 30 Full Back New Zealand Win: 13-6 2 conversions, 1 penalty Lancaster Park (Jade stadium), Christchurch WP
25 Sep 1937 30 Full Back New Zealand Win: 17-6 1 conversion Eden Park, Auckland WP
06 Aug 1938 31 Full Back Britain Win: 26-12 4 conversions, 2 penalties Ellispark, Johannesburg WP

Gerrie Brand : Doc Craven
Gerrie Brand : Doc Craven
Gerry, my old team-mate, is a very sick man today and my heart goes out to him.

For all his ability and popularity, Gerry was a bit of an introvert and during the 1931/32 tour I hardly got to know him although we were together for almost six months. After we returned we played together for Western Province and I still did not get to know him well because he was rather withdrawn.

Then we went on the 1937 tour, travelling by boat all the way to Perth, and when we docked most of the fellows went ashore.

For some or other reason I stayed aboard and when I went to the lounge there was Gerry. He and I sat together in front of the fire that night and started talking. We became firm friends and have been ever since.

The greatest fullback I ever played with or against; he was also a keen student of the game. Much of the success of the 1937 tour must be attributed to Gerry. Whenever there was a hold-up, Gerry and I would get together on the field and discuss how we thought the game was going; I from up front and Gerry from the back. We would compare notes and decide on strategy.

In the final analysis; Gerry was a matchwinner. I rate him, together with Bennie Osler, as a legend among legends - an unforgettable Springbok.

Gerry Brand : Chris Schoeman
Gerry Brand was a true footballer and, while some thought that he was an even better wing than fullback, it is for his performances in the last line of defence that he is best remembered. One of the best fullbacks ever produced by South Africa, he had no equals in his era. What made him a great fullback was his excellent anticipation, his faultless fielding of the ball, his great speed on attack, perfect timing in the tackle and an ability to kick long distances with either foot. though he was essentially a left-footer. And as a place-kicker and drop-kicker there were few who could match him.

Brand's Springbok career kicked off with the 1928 series against the All Blacks, when he was selected on the wing for the second test, but it was really his performances on the 1931/32 tour of the UK that established him as one of the legendary figures in the annals of Springbok rugby. One of his most memorable moments came in the England test at Twickenham, when he fielded a kick on the halfway line and right on touch, and calmly landed a drop goal. It is the longest recorded successful drop goal in an international at 85 yards (77.7 metres).

He was again a stalwart against the visiting Wallabies in 1931, on the epic 1937 tour of New Zealand and against the 1938 British Lions in South Africa. In New Zealand, in the second Test. with the Boks down by one test and trailing 5-6, he landed a 55-metre penalty in difficult conditions to keep the series alive (final score 13-6 to the Boks).

The Boks also won the third Test (17-6) and, with it, the series, and Doc Craven afterwards stated that Brand's kick that day had not only won the second Test, but also the rubber.

Brand finished his illustrious career against the British Lions the next year, scoring a record 14 points in the first test, which included a tremendous drop from a penalty inside his own half. Sadly, a thigh injury ended his international career before the second test, but his place was secure in Springbok history.

Gerry Brand : Scrum.com
Born in Cape Town in 1906, Brand went on to play 16 times for the Springboks in a career spanning 10 years between 1928 and 1938.

He made his debut against New Zealand in Johannesburg in 1928 and was also a member of Benny Osler's Springboks squad that toured the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1931-32.

On that tour, he helped South Africa secure a remarkable victory against England at Twickenham with one of the longest drop goals ever recorded - reportedly measuring 85 yards from point of kick to landing.

Legendary Springbok player and coach Dr Danie Craven, a former team mate of Brand's, rated him as, "the greatest fullback I ever played with or against...Gerry was a matchwinner. I rate him, together with Bennie Osler, as a legend among legends - an unforgettable Springbok."
Gerry Brand : Hamilton SP RFC History
Full name: Gerhard Hamilton Brand

Born: Cape Town, 8 October 1906

Deceased: Fish Hoek, 4 February 1996

Club: Hamiltons

Province: Western Province

International career: 1928-32: 16 tests

Gerry Brand’s father was an ardent Hamiltons man. Gerry was born the year Hamiltons won the Grand Challenge, hence his second name.

He was one of the legends of South African rugby, the fearless, fast fullback who never missed a tackle or an important kick at goal. His dropped goal against England at Twickenham on the 1931-32 tour is still regarded as one of the longest kicks of all time. On the 1937 tour to Australasia he was one of the team organisers – along with Phil Nel, Danie Craven, Boy Louw and Lucas Strachan. He was a national selector for a while.

He was a quiet man who would be at Western Province functions, always in his Hamiltons blazer, always quiet. Later a stroke robbed him of his speech entirely.
Twickenham Wall of Fame : Dai Llewellyn
Gerry Brand scored perhaps the best drop-goal Twickenham has ever seen.

Brand’s kick helped South Africa to a 7-0 victory over England in January 1932, and was the highlight of a disappointing game. He fielded the ball close to touch on the half-way line before calmly dropping the goal. The distance was later measured at 85 yards.

Brand was South Africa’s full back between 1928 and 1938. He was a magnificent defensive player and possessed a wonderful tackle. Always a keen trainer, Brand taught himself to kick equally well with either foot. His work paid off, and he came to be regarded as the world’s best kicker. The Springboks played a rather conservative style of play during this era and so Brand got relatively few opportunities to display his renowned attacking style.

Something of an introvert, Brand was nevertheless one of South Africa’s most influential players during a period when they were probably the best rugby side in the world. His fellow Springbok star Danie Craven said of Brand: ‘The greatest full back I ever played with or against … a legend amongst legends’
G. BRAND : 1931 United Tobacco Cigarette Card
Gerry Brand, the Hamiltons and Western Province player, is the most versatile member of the team. Selected as a full-back, Brand is an excellent thrusted wing and a good centre. He seem to have a preference for the wing position but in the recent Springbok trials he was unequalled as a full-back.

Educated at Sea Point Boys' High School, Brand has been prominent in Western Province Rugby for many years, and during the visit of the All Black in 1928 he played twice for South Africa on the wing. Brand is a magnificent kick with the left foot, and as a tackle he is almost unpassable. He has all the qualifications for a successor to Gerhard Morkel.

Brand Street : G.J. van Eck.
BRAND, Gerhard Hamilton (alom "Gerrie" genoem), is op 8 Oktober1906 in Seepunt, Kaapstad, gebore. Sy tweede naam het hy gekry omdat sy familie vurige ondersteuners van die klub Hamiltons was, waaraan ook hy later sou behoort.

Sy skoolopleiding het hy aan die Seapoint Boys High ontvang. Van 1928 tot 1938 het hy Suid-Afrika op die rugbyveld, merendeels as heelagter, gedien in talle toetse hier en oorsee, naamlik:

In 1928 : Teen die All Blacks in S.A.
1931/32: Teen Brittanje oorsee.
1933 Teen die Wallabies in S.A. - (Tydens hierdie toetsreeks het Gerrie vir S.A. in die vierde en die vyfde (finale) toets vleuel gespeel.)
1937 Teen die All Blacks oorsee (Gerrie het op die toer 'n rekord opgestel deur in twee wedstryde 24 punte met sy skoen aan te teken - sy groottotaal punte vir die toer (209) was seker ook 'n rekord.)
1938 Teen Brittanje in S.A.
Na die Tweede Wereldoorlog het Gerrie weer uitgedraf, en hoewel 'n bietjie stadiger met sy ou vaardigheid nog plek in die W.P.-span gekry. In 1945 speel hy sy laaste wedstryd vir die streeptruie teen Transvaal op Ellispark en toe het hy so stilweg sy skoene gebêre net soos hy op die rugbyveld rondbeweeg het.
In ongeveer 1948 het Gerrie met sy gesin van sy geboorteplek, Kaapstad, na Bloemfontein versit, waar hy as verteenwoordiger van 'n vooraanstaande brouery in die O.V.S. min tyd vind om veel meer as net belangstelling in die nasionale spel aan die dag te lê. Wanneer hy egter tyd tot beskikking het, beoefen hy gholf of neem deel aan bootresies op die Kafferrivierbesprooiingsdam 20 myI uit Bloemfontein uit.

BRONNE:
(1) INGRAM, F.: "What Happened to Gerry Brand?" Spotlight 8-10 Mar. 1953.
(2) CRAVEN, D. H.: Springbok-annale (Rugby) 1889 - 1964.
(3) CRAVEN, Danie: Springboks Down the Years.
(4) Die Huisgenoot, 22 Mei 1964. bl. 31.

- Uit Pretoriana: Rugby Springbokke
na wie straatname in Danville, Pretoria,
vernoem is
Gerald Hamilton (Gerry) Brand : Brian Lawrence Fleming
16 toetse tussen 1928 en1938. 12 op heelagter en 4 op vleuel. 82% van sy toetse was die Springbokke aan die wen kant.

Een van ons groot legendes. Danie Craven het dit gesê van Brand "The greatest fullback I ever played with or against. Gerry was a matchwinner. I regard him, along with Bennie Osler, as a legend among legends - an unforgettable Springbok". Rotsvas op verdediging. Kon die bal ver skop en oor baie vaart beskik.

Die ouditeur van die boek "The Springboks Talk", Maxwell Price 1955 het vir Brand gevra om sy beste Springbok span tydens sy era te noem:

Heelagter - Gerry Brand (let wel Price het sy naam neergeskryf want natuurlik wou Brand dit nie self doen nie)
Vleuels - Dai Williams en Jock van Niekerk
Senters - Stanley Osler en Geoff Gray
Loskakel - Bennie Osler
Skrumskakel - Pierre de Villiers
Losvoorspelers - Ben du Toit, George Daneel en Louis Strachan
Slotte - Phillip Nel en Ferdie Bergh
Stutte - Fanie Louw en Boy Louw
Haker - Jan Lotz