Gert Wilhelm "Tank" van Rooyen (9 December 1892 – 21 September 1942), also known as George van Rooyen, was a South African international

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. His position was at

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

Club career

At the age of 29, Van Rooyen moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1922 to play

for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

, where he won the 1922–23 league championship. He joined

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in November 1923, and went on to win the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

in 1924, and two Lancashire League titles in 1923–24 and 1925–26. Tank van Rooyen played at in

's 22–10 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Final during the 1925–26 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St. Helens on Saturday, 8 May 1926. Tank van Rooyen played at in

's 11–15 defeat by Swinton in the

1925–26 Lancashire Cup The 1925–26 Lancashire Cup was the eighteenth tournament in the history of this regional rugby league competition, and another new name was added to the trophy. This time it was the turn of Swinton Lions, Swinton, one of the founding members o ...

Final during the 1925–26 season at

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, Broughton on Wednesday, 9 December 1925. He spent six years at Wigan, making a total 178 appearances for the club. In 1929, he joined

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

on a free transfer, and became the club's first ever overseas player. In 1930, he won his second Challenge Cup in a shock 10–3 victory over St. Helens. He continued to play for Widnes until his retirement in 1933.

Representative career

In rugby union, Van Rooyen appeared 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 ...

in two Tests in 1921. As a professional

footballer, his only appearance at representative level was for Other Nationalities, playing in the team that beat England 23–17 at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

in 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooyen, George van 1892 births 1942 deaths 20th-century South African sportsmen Afrikaner people Cape Colony rugby union players Hull Kingston Rovers players Other Nationalities rugby league team players People from Walter Sisulu Local Municipality Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Eastern Cape Rugby union locks Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape South Africa international rugby union players South African people of Dutch descent South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African rugby league players South African rugby union players Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players