# Okey Geffin > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Okey_Geffin > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Okey_Geffin.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okey_Geffin > Source revision: 1340672189 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|South African rugby union player}} {{Use British English|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Aaron "Okey" Geffin | image = Okey_Geffin_copy.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Aaron GeffinBut see note on nickname | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|5|28|df=y}} | birth_place = [Johannesburg](/source/Johannesburg), South Africa | death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|10|16|1921|5|28|df=yes}} | death_place = South Africa | height = | weight = | position = [Forward](/source/Rugby_union_positions) | amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = | ru_amclubcaps = | ru_amclubpoints = | amupdate = | provinceyears1 = | province1 = [Transvaal](/source/Golden_Lions) | provinceapps1 = | provincepoints1 = | repteam1 = [South Africa](/source/South_Africa_national_rugby_union_team) | repyears1 = 1949, 1951 | repcaps1 = 7 | reppoints1 = 48 | repupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = | occupation = Building contractor }} '''Aaron "Okey" Geffin''' (28 May 1921 – 16 October 2004)[http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/player/5197.html Okey Geffin player profile] ESPN Scrum.com{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/AaronOkeyGeffin.htm|title=Aaron "Okey" Geffin|access-date=5 October 2009|archive-date=5 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105132622/http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/AaronOkeyGeffin.htm|url-status=dead}} was a South African [rugby union](/source/rugby_union) player.Encyclopedia Judaica He is sometimes considered the greatest Jewish rugby player of all time, and he was inducted into the [International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame](/source/International_Jewish_Sports_Hall_of_Fame) in 1998. Geffin's handprints and boot prints are displayed in the [New Zealand National Rugby Museum](/source/New_Zealand_National_Rugby_Museum) in tribute to his 1949 kicking record. ==Nickname== The origin of his nickname "Okey" is unknown.{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/brendangallagher/2388755/Geffin-takes-name-mystery-to-the-grave.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Geffin takes name mystery to the grave | first=Brendan | last=Gallagher | date=21 October 2004 | accessdate=20 May 2010}} His father was a Russian immigrant, and his first name was left blank on his birth certificate.Goodwin, p161 While a [POW](/source/Prisoner_of_War), his nickname was "Ox". ==Biography== Geffin was born near to [Ellis Park](/source/Ellis_Park_Stadium) rugby stadium in [Johannesburg](/source/Johannesburg), to a Jewish family of Russian origins. Geffin fought in [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and was captured at [Tobruk](/source/Tobruk) as a POW, and trained while incarcerated. While in [Stalag XX-A](/source/Stalag_XX-A) near [Thorn](/source/Toru%C5%84) (Toruń) in occupied [Poland](/source/Poland), he met [Bill Payn](/source/Cecil_(Bill)_Payn), a former Springbok, and they helped arrange an "international test" against a New Zealand POW XV. :"We used to scrum for hours on end, and he coached me. Payn arranged rugby games in camp: South Africa against the New Zealanders. Our gear was dyed underpants and vests, but no boots. We played barefoot. Payn encouraged my development and told me I would be a Springbok if I continued to play after the war." He spent three years in POW camps in Italy and Germany, as well as Poland, where he practised his kicking barefoot near a mass grave of Polish victims of the Nazis. Geffin was one of the few prop forwards in the game to kick for goal.{{cite news |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/sport_minisite_story_skin/454489 |title=Okey goal-kicker, remarkable man |date=21 October 2004 |work=[Television New Zealand](/source/Television_New_Zealand) |accessdate=1 November 2011}} The Springboks won ten matches in a row, including a 4–0 whitewash of New Zealand on their 1949 tour to South Africa.Harding (2000), pg 42. Prop Okey Geffin helped kick the Springboks to victory—they won all four Tests despite the All Blacks scoring more tries in three of them.Harding (2000), pg 46.Harding (2000), pg 50. When writing about the 1949 series against the All Blacks, Harding and Williams wrote: "(Okey) Geffin won the series, perhaps, but Muller made it possible."Harding (2000), pg 50. He had been taught his kicking by Springbok [Freddy Turner](/source/Freddy_Turner) before the war. To the rugby commentator, [Bill McLaren](/source/Bill_McLaren), Geffin's play was stunning: :"''The defeat which sticks in the memory is that 0–44 thrashing from the South Africans at [Murrayfield](/source/Murrayfield_Stadium) on 24 November 1951. They were just awesome. It was like [sevens](/source/rugby_sevens) played by fifteen men. I had never seen anything quite like them. I had never seen a prop forward run as fast as [Chris Koch](/source/Chris_Koch_(rugby_union)), had never seen as huge a man as 'Okey' Geffin kick goals...'' :"''At Murrayfield the massive Geffin thumped over seven goals in nine attempts from all over the pitch, with the old fashioned style of having the ball sloping towards the goal and with a dead run up.''"McLaren, Bill ''Talking of Rugby'' (1991, Stanley Paul, London {{ISBN|0-09-173875-X}}), pp 79–80 Okey Geffin was capped only seven times for [South Africa](/source/South_Africa_national_rugby_union_team). His first match was on 16 July 1949, against the [All Blacks](/source/New_Zealand_national_rugby_union_team). His last match was on 22 December 1951 against [Wales](/source/Wales_national_rugby_union_team). He was a building contractor by occupation. ==Statistics== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%;" ! Number ! Name ! Test Debut ! Opposition ! Caps ! Total points ! Tries ! Cons ! Pens ! Drops |- |align=center|270 |{{sortname|Okey|Geffin}} |align=center|{{dts|format=dmy|1949|07|16}} |align=center|New Zealand |align=center|7 |align=center|48 |align=center|0 |align=center|9 |align=center|10 |align=center|0 |} * 7 test matches with South Africa * Caps by year: 4 in 1949, 3 in 1951 ==See also== *[List of select Jewish rugby union players](/source/List_of_Jews_in_sports) ==References== * ''[Encyclopedia Judaica](/source/Encyclopedia_Judaica)'', Second Edition, volume 19, p146 * Goodwin, Terry ''The Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Blandford Press, England, 1987, {{ISBN|0-7137-1838-2}}) * {{cite book | last=Harding |first=Grant |author2=Williams, David |title=The Toughest of Them All: New Zealand and South Africa: The Struggle for Rugby Supremacy |year=2000 | publisher=Penguin Books |location=[Auckland](/source/Auckland), New Zealand |isbn=0-14-029577-1}} {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://tvnz.co.nz/view/sport_minisite_story_skin/454489 Okey goal-kicker, remarkable man] (TVNZ) * [http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/AaronOkeyGeffin.htm Jewish Sports: Okey Geffin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105132622/http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/AaronOkeyGeffin.htm |date=5 January 2010 }} * [https://www.angelfire.com/biz4/bigbrian/payn.html] * [http://www.thejc.com/news/letter/letter-from-cape-town Letter from Cape Town] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120306000103/http://www.rugbyrugby.com/news/story_211209190400.php Book review: The Glory of the Game], about the Ten Jewish Springboks. {{DEFAULTSORT:Geffin, Okey}} Category:South African rugby union players Category:South Africa international rugby union players Category:Jewish rugby union players Category:South African Jews Category:Rugby union players from Johannesburg Category:2004 deaths Category:1921 births Category:South African people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:South African military personnel of World War II Category:Rugby union forwards Category:Lions (United Rugby Championship) players Category:20th-century South African sportsmen --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Okey Geffin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okey_Geffin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okey_Geffin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.