Okey Geffin
| Full name | Aaron Geffin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 May 1921 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 16 October 2004 (aged 83) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Building contractor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Forward | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Provincial / State sides | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1949, 1951 | South Africa | 7 | (48) |
Aaron "Okey" Geffin (28 May 1921 – 16 October 2004) was a South African rugby union player.
He is sometimes considered the greatest Jewish rugby player of all time, and he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
Geffin's handprints and boot prints are displayed in the New Zealand National Rugby Museum in tribute to his 1949 kicking record.
The origin of his nickname "Okey" is unknown. His father was a Russian immigrant, and his first name was left blank on his birth certificate. While a POW, his nickname was "Ox".
Geffin was born near to Ellis Park rugby stadium in Johannesburg, to a Jewish family of Russian origins.
Geffin fought in World War II and was captured at Tobruk as a POW, and trained while incarcerated. While in Stalag XX-A near Thorn (Toruń) in occupied Poland, he met Bill Payn, a former Springbok, and they helped arrange an "international test" against a New Zealand POW XV.
He spent three years in POW camps in Italy and Germany, as well as Poland, where he practised his kicking barefoot near a mass grave of Polish victims of the Nazis.
Geffin was one of the few prop forwards in the game to kick for goal. The Springboks won ten matches in a row, including a 4–0 whitewash of New Zealand on their 1949 tour to South Africa. Prop Okey Geffin helped kick the Springboks to victory—they won all four Tests despite the All Blacks scoring more tries in three of them. When writing about the 1949 series against the All Blacks, Harding and Williams wrote: "(Okey) Geffin won the series, perhaps, but Muller made it possible." He had been taught his kicking by Springbok Freddie Turner before the war.
To the rugby commentator, Bill McLaren, Geffin's play was stunning:
Okey Geffin was capped only seven times for South Africa. His first match was on 16 July 1949, against the All Blacks. His last match was on 22 December 1951 against Wales.
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