Tjol Lategan
| Full name | Marthinus Theunis Lategan | ||||||||||||
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| Nickname | Tjol | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 29 September 1925 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Stellenbosch, South Africa | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 8 March 2015 (aged 89) | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 77 kg (12 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||
| School | Stellenbosch Boys' High School | ||||||||||||
| University | Stellenbosch University | ||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | accountant | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | ||||||||||||
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| Provincial/State sides | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1947–1953 1953–1954 |
Western Province Boland |
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| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1949–1953 | South Africa | 11 | (9) |
Marthinus Theunis "Tjol" Lategan (29 September 1925 – 8 March 2015) was a South African rugby union centre. Along with Ryk van Schoor he formed one of the great post-war centre partnerships in rugby. Lategan played club rugby for University of Stellenbosch and provincial rugby for Western Province. He was capped for South Africa eleven times between 1949 and 1953 first representing the team against the 1949 touring New Zealand side. He was later selected for the 1951–52 South Africa rugby tour of Great Britain, Ireland and France. The touring team is seen as one of the greatest South African teams, winning 30 of the 31 matches, including all five internationals.
Lategan was born in Stellenbosch in 1925 and educated at Stellenbosch Boys' High School before matriculating to Stellenbosch University where he studied accountancy. He was universally known as "Tjol", a family nickname. He became a partner in a large firm of accountants in East London before retiring in 1991. He was married twice, his first wife died in 1970 after a short illness, and was later married to Trudie, with whom he lived in a retirement home in Somerset West. He was the last surviving member of the 1949 Springboks who beat the New Zealand 'All Blacks' in all four Tests of their tour of South Africa, before he died on 8 March 2015.
Lategan was originally not selected for the Springboks, when the New Zealand 'All Blacks' arrived in South Africa for their 1949 tour. Playing his club rugby for Stellenbosch University, he had been dropped to the University's second team when New Zealand faced Western Province, for which Lategan was also not required. But after the Western Province back line produced a disappointing display in that match he was called directly into the South Africa squad for the first Test at Cape Town. In his first Test he was partnered at centre with Floors Duvenage, the only time in his Test career he would not be partnered with Ryk van Schoor. The Springboks won 15–11, and from that point Lategan would appear in every South Africa international match until 19 September 1953. In the second Test the selectors chose Rhodesian crash ball expert, Ryk van Schoor to partner Lategan, beginning a record South African partnership of ten Tests. South Africa won 12–6, Lategan scoring his first international points in the game when he scored a try. The final two games of the tour, in Durban and the Port Elizabeth, saw Lategan collect his third and fourth caps in two further Springbok victories. The 'All Blacks had lost all four Tests.
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