George van Rooyen

George van Rooyen

Van Rooyen when he was playing for Rovers.
Personal information
Full name	Gert Wilhelm van Rooyen
Born	(1892-12-09)9 December 1892 Steynsburg, Cape Colony (now Eastern Cape, South Africa)
Died	21 September 1942(1942-09-21) (aged 49) Runcorn, England
Playing information
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	99.8 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Rugby union
Position	Lock
Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1921 South Africa 2 0 0 0
Rugby league
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1922–23 Hull Kingston Rovers 35 7 0 0 21 1923–29 Wigan 178 26 0 78 1929–33 Widnes 74 4 0 12 Total 287 37 0 0 111 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1924 Other Nationalities 1
Source:

Gert Wilhelm "Tank" van Rooyen (9 December 1892 – 21 September 1942), also known as George van Rooyen, was a South African international rugby union and rugby league footballer. His position was at lock.

Club career

At the age of 29, Van Rooyen moved to England in 1922 to play rugby league for Hull Kingston Rovers, where he won the 1922–23 league championship. He joined Wigan in November 1923, and went on to win the Challenge Cup in 1924, and two Lancashire League titles in 1923–24 and 1925–26.

Tank van Rooyen played at second-row in Wigan's 22–10 victory over Warrington in the Championship Final during the 1925–26 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Saturday, 8 May 1926.

Tank van Rooyen played at second-row in Wigan's 11–15 defeat by Swinton in the 1925–26 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1925–26 season at The Cliff, 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 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 in two Tests in 1921. As a professional rugby league footballer, his only appearance at representative level was for Other Nationalities, playing in the team that beat England 23–17 at Headingley in 1924.