Marthinus "Oupa" Versfeld (15 May 1860 – 1 September 1931) was a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player. He was born and educated in Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, where he attended SACS

South African College Schools

The South African College Schools, commonly referred to as SACS, is a primary and secondary education institution located in Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1829, it is the oldest school in South Africa and one of four schools expressly named by Cecil John Rhodes to offer an annual...

 and played provincial rugby with Western Province

Western Province (rugby team)

DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...

. Versfeld made his only Test

Test match (rugby union)

Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....

 appearances for South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 during Great Britain's 1891 tour

1891 British Lions tour to South Africa

The 1891 British Isles tour to South Africa was the first British Isles rugby union tour of South Africa and only the second overseas tour conducted by a joint British team. Between 9 July and 7 September, the team played 20 games, including three tests against the South Africa national rugby union...

. He played, as a forward, in all three Test matches of what was South Africa's first series as a Test nation. His brother, Hasie Versfeld

Hasie Versfeld

Charles "Hasie" Versfeld was a South African international rugby union player. Born in Wynberg, Cape Town, he was educated at Green Point Grammar School before playing provincial rugby for Western Province. Versfeld made his only appearance for South Africa in the 3rd Test of Great Britain's 1891...

, was also selected to play in the 3rd Test of the series, making the Versfelds the first brothers to represent South Africa. Versfeld died in 1931, in Cape Town, at the age of 71.