Days in Green and Gold

Although an architect with years of experience in the profession, Wynand Claassen is also a former Springbok rugby captain who captained the national rugby team in 1981 and 1982. In 1985, Wynand has become the youngest ever National Springbok Selector and also the first ever to be selected while still actively playing rugby, before retiring from the game in April 1985. He coached various teams and since 1995, he served as a selector and manager of the Springbok Seven-a-Side team, while at the beginning of 2000 he was re-elected on the Springbok Senior Selection panel and also served as the Convenor of the SA Under 19 team until the beginning of 2004.

Wynand won the Currie Cup for Northern Transvaal (today known as the Blue Bulls) and played in the final for Natal (today known as the Sharks).

Wynand is the son of former Comrades legend, George Claassen, who won the Comrades Marathon on 31 May 1961, on the same day South Africa became a republic.

Wynand’s journey on the way to success in rugby and the architecture profession is told in two books: Wynand Claassen – More than just Rugby (1985) and Kaalvoetklong tot Rugbytoks (2011).