Robert Cockrell


Robert James Cockrell was a South African rugby union player who played eleven test matches for the South Africa national rugby union team.

Playing career

Cockrell made his provincial debut for Western Province in 1972 and played in 102 matches for the union.
He made his test debut for the Springboks on 23 November 1974 at Stade Municipal in Toulouse against France. Cockrell scored his first and only test try during his third test match on 21 June 1975 in Bloemfontein against the touring French team captained by Richard Astre.
His last test match, was the Springboks’ first ever test match against the USA on 20 September 1981 at the Owl Creek Polo ground in Glenville, New York. Cockrell also played in 14 tour matches for the Springboks and scored one try.

Test history

No.OppositionResult
PositionTriesDateVenue
1.13–4Hooker23 Nov 1974Stade Municipal, Toulouse
2.10–8Hooker30 Nov 1974Parc des Princes, Paris
3.38–25Hooker121 Jun 1975Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
4.33–18Hooker28 Jun 1975Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
5.16–7Hooker24 Jul 1976Kings Park Stadium, Durban
6.9–15Hooker14 Aug 1976Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
7.45–24Hooker27 Aug 1977Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
8.9–14Hooker15 Aug 1981Lancaster Park, Christchurch
9.24–12Replacement29 Aug 1981Athletic Park, Wellington
10.22–25Hooker12 Sep 1981Eden Park, Auckland
11.38–7Hooker20 Sep 1981Owl Creek Polo ground, Glenville, New York