Robert Loftus Owen Versfeld
South African rugby union player and administrator / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Robert Loftus Owen Versfeld[2] (7 December 1862 – 5 May 1932) was a South African rugby union player and administrator who was a founding member of the Eastern Province Rugby Union and of the Pretoria Rugby Subunion (1908) which in 1938 became Northern Transvaal. He founded Pretoria Rugby Club in 1888,[3] and established Pretoria rugby headquarters at Eastern Sports Grounds. He introduced grass playing fields to the Transvaal.[4]
Birth name | Robert Loftus Owen Versfeld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | (1862-12-07)7 December 1862 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Constantia, Cape Colony | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 4 May 1932(1932-05-04) (aged 69) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable relative(s) | Marthinus Versfeld, Charles Versfeld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Johanna Catharina Elizebeth ("Jossie") Versfeld (née Botha) (1865-1962) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | Thelma Cook, Winifred Page, Wilfred Versfeld | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Solicitor, Administrator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Versfeld is the only South African player to have won a Grand Challenge Cup in three different provinces with three different teams: the inaugural Western Province Grand Challenge Cup with Hamilton Rugby Football Club in 1883; the Eastern Province Grand Challenge Cup with Union RFC in 1888; and the Transvaal Grand Challenge Cup with Pretoria RFC in 1889. He also played for a Transvaal Country XV against Bill MacLagan's touring British Isles side in 1891.[4]