Hannes Brewis

Full name

Johannes Daniel Brewis

Date of birth

15 June 1920

Place of birth

Oudtshoorn, South Africa

Date of death

9 September 2007 (aged 87)

Place of death

Pretoria, South Africa

Height

1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)

Weight

73 kg (11 st 7 lb)

School

Oudtshoorn Boys' High
Langenhoven Commercial

Spouse

Priscilla Wilcocks

Occupation(s)

Police officer

Rugby union career

Amateur team(s)
Position(s)	Fly-half
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
Provincial / State sides
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
1946–53	Northern Transvaal		()
National team(s)
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
1949–53	South Africa	10	(18)

Amateur team(s)
Position(s)	Fly-half
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
Provincial / State sides
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
1946–53	Northern Transvaal		()
National team(s)
Years	Team	Apps	(Points)
1949–53	South Africa	10	(18)

Johannes Daniel "Hannes" Brewis (15 June 1920 – 9 September 2007) was a South African rugby union player. He was capped for South Africa ten times, and was selected to play for the Springboks on the 1951–52 South Africa rugby tour of Great Britain, Ireland and France; playing in all five international games of that tour. The touring team of 1951/52 is seen as one of the greatest South African teams, winning 30 of the 31 matches, including all five internationals. Brewis represented Northern Transvaal at regional level and is recognised as one of the great South African rugby players of the 1940s and early 1950s.

Brewis was born in Oudtshoorn, South Africa in 1920. He was educated at Oudtshoorn Boys' High and Langenhoven Commercial before moving to Pretoria. He became a police officer, and by the 1960s was a police warrant officer in Pretoria. On 28 September 1946 he married Priscilla Wilcocks of Bloemfontein with whom he had two daughters. He died in Pretoria in 2007.

Brewis first came to note as a rugby player in the events of the 28 September 1946. On that day Northern Transvaal faced Western Province for the final of the Currie Cup, the same day Brewis was to marry Priscilla Wilcocks. Rather than miss the match, Brewis arranged to do both. In the match Brewis scored with two dropped goals, one from each foot. His last minute kick to the corner, with the score 8–9 in Western Province's favour, saw a defensive error allow Northern Transvaal to score an opportunistic winning try. This was the first time Northern Transvaal had won the Currie Cup. After the game, Brewis left the celebrations to attend his wedding, and initially the parson of the Dutch Reformed Church refused to marry the couple due to the late hour. The minister was persuaded to change his mind and Brewis and Priscilla were married that day.

In 1949 South Africa played its first international match since the end of the Second World War. The opposition was the touring New Zealand 'All Blacks'. All 15 players of the South Africa team were uncapped, and Brewis was selected at fly-half partnered with scrum-half Ballie Wahl. South Africa rugby legend, Hennie Muller, who made his name during the New Zealand tour, stated that the Springbok team was 'plainly worried' before the game and there were concerns as 'Hansie Brewis and Ballie Wahl, hardly new each other'. Despite the pre-match concerns the first Test of the series, played at Cape Town, saw South Africa beat New Zealand 15–11, all the South African points coming from penalties from Okey Geffin. Brewis was reselected for the second Test against the All Blacks, but his half back partner was switched from Wahl to Fonnie du Toit. Brewis and du Toit would play together for the next eight internationals, a South African half back record. The second Test, played at Johannesburg, saw Brewis score his first international points, with a dropped goal and a try in a 12–6 victory. The final two Tests of the tour both ended in South African victories, a whitewash for New Zealand. Brewis played in both, and in the fourth Test was on the scoreboard again with another dropped goal. The same match also saw du Toit score his first international score with a try.

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