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Crossing the Scotland/South Africa divide
John GriffithsSeptember 23, 2014
Do you know if Bennie Osler, the famous Springbok fly-half, and the FL Osler who played for Scotland in 1911 were related? Little seems to be known about the Scottish internationalist. Peter Mitchell, Scotland
Francis Lionel (Frank) Osler (Scotland 1911) was the uncle of two Springboks: Bennie Osler (SA 1924-1933) and his brother Stanley Osler (SA 1928).
The family came from the Riversdale area of the Cape Province in South Africa. Frank was born there on February 10 1888, the tenth child of Benjamin Osler senior and his English-born wife, Eliza Jane (née Batchelor).
Osler family records indicate that Benjamin senior and Eliza Jane had 13 children between 1869 and 1896, three girls and ten boys. Their fourth son (also named Benjamin) married Isobel Louwrens: it was their two sons, Stanley and Benjamin Louwrens Osler, who played for South Africa between the Wars.
Stanley appeared once in a Test, as a three-quarter, against the 1928 All Blacks. Bennie was the stand-out player of his generation and led the Springboks to a Grand Slam of the Home Unions during their 1931-32 tour of Britain and Ireland.
Frank Osler was about 10 years younger than Stanley and Bennie's dad. After school in the Cape, Frank went (with another of his brothers) to Edinburgh University to study dentistry and while there won two caps playing scrum-half for Scotland in 1911. He was dropped after Wales won 32-10 at Inverleith that year, later returned to his native South Africa and died there on January 17 1935.
John Griffiths is a widely respected rugby historian and is the author of several sports books, a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and co-author of the IRB International Rugby Yearbook. He has provided insight for Scrum.com since 1999.
