Attie van Heerden

Following a short career as a track and field athlete Attie van Heerden played rugby union for South Africa before moving to England to play rugby league for Wigan. Van Heerden became the national champion in the 120 yard hurdles and the 440 yard hurdles at the 1920 South African Championships in Johannesburg. The same year he ran in the 400 metres hurdles at the Antwerpen Olympics but did not finish in his heat.

With his fast running abilities Van Heerden played rugby union as a winger for Stellenbosch University in the latter half of the 1910s. In 1919 he played for Western Province before representing Transvaal from 1920 until 1923. Whilst playing for Transvaal he was selected for the Springbok rugby team for their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1921. He played in two Test matches against the All Blacks on the tour and scored a try on his international début, with New Zealand winning the match 13–5. Van Heerden did not play in the second Test against the All Blacks, which the Springboks won 9–5, but did play in the third and final Test of the tour which was drawn 0–0.

After his stint with the Springboks Van Heerden moved to England where he turned professional and played rugby league for Wigan. He made more than 120 appearances for the team from 1923 to 1927 and scored more than 100 tries. He was part of the squad that won the 1923–24 Challenge Cup final, beating Oldham 21–4, and was part of the team that beat Warrington 22–10 to win the Championship Final in the 1925–26 season. Van Heerden also had a brief spell playing for Wigan’s rivals Leigh and made an appearance for the international team the Other Nationalities.

Personal Best: 400H – 57.9 (1920).