Johan Wilhelm Heunis (born 26 January 1958 in

George, Western Cape George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is na ...

, South Africa) is a former South African

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player.

Playing career

Heunis started his career in Port Elizabeth while studying law at the

University of Port Elizabeth The University of Port Elizabeth (UPE) was a public university located in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. UPE was founded on 31 January 1964, by an act of parliament, and held its first academic year in 1965. It off ...

(Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) and made his provincial debut for Eastern Province in 1979. After receiving his call up for his national service in Pretoria, he moved to Pretoria and gained

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

colours in 1981. Heunis made his test debut for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

during the 1981 tour of New Zealand as a replacement for Gysie Pienaar in the third test on 12 September 1981 at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. His first start for the Springboks in a test match was against the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

on 20 September 1981 at the Owl Creek Polo ground in

Glenville, New York Glenville is a town in Schenectady County, New York, United States. It was incorporated in 1821 from Schenectady. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 29,326. Including the village of Scotia, the town of Glenville encompasses the part ...

. Heunis played 14 test matches for the Springboks, scoring 41 points. He played a further 10 tour matches for the Springboks in which he scored 31 points.

Test history

''Legend: pen = penalty (3 pts.); con = conversion (2 pts.), drop = drop kick (3 pts.).''

Accolades

Heunis was named the

SA Rugby Player of the Year The SA Rugby Player of the Year is awarded annually to honour the South Africa's outstanding rugby union player of the year. List of winners Multiple winners * 4 times: :: 1979, 1981, 1985, 1987 - Naas Botha * 3 times: :: 2005, 2007, 2012 - ...

for 1989

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heunis, Johan 1958 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Blue Bulls players Rugby union players from George, South Africa

Playing career

Test history

Accolades

See also

References