Tom van Vollenhoven
Van Vollenhoven in New Zealand in 1956 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Karel Thomas van Vollenhoven | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 April 1935 Bethlehem, Free State, South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 21 October 2017 (aged 82) South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Karel Thomas van Vollenhoven (29 April 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a South African rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He enjoyed a prolific rugby league career with English club St. Helens after switching codes from rugby union in the 1950s. Van Vollenhoven became a rugby league sensation with the club in a career spanning ten seasons from the 1957 to the 1967–68 season. During this time he amassed a club record 392 tries in 408 appearances. This includes a record 62-tries scored during the 1958–59 season. In 2000, he was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.