South Africa’s sporting isolation deprived many rugby fans of the chance to marvel at the skills of one of the game’s most gifted centres. 

Exceptional in attack, Danie Gerber used his searing pace and immense power to score 19 tries from 24 international appearances, a tally that included a hat-trick against England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in 1984. He also represented the Barbarians on three occasions.

Having played an integral role in the Springboks’ 3-1 series win over an immensely strong New Zealand Cavaliers outfit in 1986, Gerber bagged a brace against the bona fide All Blacks when South Africa marked its return to test rugby with a narrow 27-24 loss in August 1992. In October that year the Port Elizabeth-born player scored tries in both away tests against France. His swansong came against England at Twickenham a few weeks later, aged 34.