Paul Roos (rugby player)

Paul Roos

Paul Roos, Springbok Captain, of the first South African touring rugby team to the British Isles in 1906
Full name	Paul Johannes Roos
Date of birth	(1880-10-30)30 October 1880
Place of birth	Stellenbosch, South Africa
Date of death	22 September 1948(1948-09-22) (aged 67)
Place of death	Stellenbosch, South Africa
Height	181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	90.5 kg (14 st 4 lb)
School	Stellenbosch Gymnasium
Notable relative(s)	Gideon Roos, brother
Occupation(s)	schoolmaster
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1903–06 South Africa 4 (0)

Paul Johannes Roos (30 October 1880 – 22 September 1948) (also known as Oom Polla – Afrikaans for "Uncle Polla") was one of the first South African Springbok rugby union captains and led the first South African rugby team to tour overseas – to Britain in 1906. Roos was born near the South African town of Stellenbosch on 30 October 1880 and completed his education there.

Roos was a popular rugby player and was chosen by his own teammates to captain the 1906 tour. Throughout the tour he was articulate and gracious in victory and defeat, and saw the campaign as an attempt to improve the relationship between his fellow countrymen and the British after the events of the Second Boer War. A devout Christian, Roos was an excellent ambassador for the game and helped promote the South Africans as a fair and exciting sporting team.

Roos earliest recorded games of rugby were for Victoria College, for whom he played in the third team in 1897, progressing through the squads until by 1899 he was a prominent member of the first team. With no first class team in the area, he joined the Villagers in 1900, before returning to the Stellenbosch University side in 1901. By 1902 Roos was captaining the team, and led the team with great success.

By 1903 Roos had been selected for the Western Province team, but was such a devout Christian, he refused to play or travel on a Sunday. This led to Roos refusing to play for the Western Province team in the Currie Cup of 1904 as it would mean he would need to travel on a Sunday. The Western Province captain wrote to a professor at Stellenbosch University, where Roos lectured, to convince Roos to play. Roos' brother, Gideon Roos, followed his older brother playing for both Stellenbosch and Western Province before he himself played international rugby for South Africa.

Before his first international match Roos faced the 1903 touring British Isles while representing Western Province; the game ending in an impressive 3–3 draw at Newlands. After his performance for Western Province, Roos was selected to represent the South African national team in 1903 in the final Test against the British Isles. The first two Test matches had both ended in draws, and when the South Africans won, they took their first series against a British team.