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Aaron "Okey" Geffin (28 May 1921 – 16 October 2004) was a 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.Encyclopedia Judaica He is sometimes considered the greatest Jewish rugby player of all time, and he was inducted into the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (IJSHOF) () is the international hall of fame for Jewish athletes and special contributors to the world of sport. The purpose of the IJSHOF is to honor Jewish individuals, worldwide, who have accompli ...
in 1998. Geffin's handprints and boot prints are displayed in the New Zealand National Rugby Museum in tribute to his 1949 kicking record.


Nickname

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.Goodwin, p161 While a
POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
, his nickname was "Ox".


Biography

Geffin was born near to Ellis Park rugby stadium in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
, to a Jewish family of Russian origins. Geffin fought in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and was captured at
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...
as a POW, and trained while incarcerated. While in
Stalag XX-A Stalag XX-A was a German World War II German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp located in Toruń in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland. It was not a single camp and contained as many as 20,000 men ...
near Thorn (Toruń) in occupied
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, he met Bill Payn, a former Springbok, and they helped arrange an "international test" against a New Zealand POW XV. :"We used to scrum for hours on end, and he coached me. Payn arranged rugby games in camp: South Africa against the New Zealanders. Our gear was dyed underpants and vests, but no boots. We played barefoot. Payn encouraged my development and told me I would be a Springbok if I continued to play after the war." 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.Harding (2000), pg 42. 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.Harding (2000), pg 46.Harding (2000), pg 50. 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."Harding (2000), pg 50. He had been taught his kicking by Springbok Freddy Turner before the war. To the rugby commentator,
Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as "the voice of rugby", he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...
, Geffin's play was stunning: :"''The defeat which sticks in the memory is that 0–44 thrashing from the South Africans at
Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...
on 24 November 1951. They were just awesome. It was like sevens played by fifteen men. I had never seen anything quite like them. I had never seen a prop forward run as fast as Chris Koch, had never seen as huge a man as 'Okey' Geffin kick goals...'' :"''At Murrayfield the massive Geffin thumped over seven goals in nine attempts from all over the pitch, with the old fashioned style of having the ball sloping towards the goal and with a dead run up.''"McLaren, Bill ''Talking of Rugby'' (1991, Stanley Paul, London ), pp 79–80 Okey Geffin was capped only seven times for
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. His first match was on 16 July 1949, against the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
. His last match was on 22 December 1951 against
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. He was a building contractor by occupation.


Statistics

* 7 test matches with South Africa * Caps by year: 4 in 1949, 3 in 1951


See also

* List of select Jewish rugby union players


References

* ''
Encyclopedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...
'', Second Edition, volume 19, p146 * Goodwin, Terry ''The Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Blandford Press, England, 1987, ) *


External links


Okey goal-kicker, remarkable man
(TVNZ)




Letter from Cape Town

Book review: The Glory of the Game
about the Ten Jewish Springboks. {{DEFAULTSORT:Geffin, Okey South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Jewish rugby union players South African Jews Rugby union players from Johannesburg 2004 deaths 1921 births South African people of Russian-Jewish descent South African military personnel of World War II Rugby union forwards Golden Lions players