Alvi van der Merwe

In 1928, during the visit of the New Zealand "Invincibles" rugby team to South Africa, van der Merwe, then aged 19, scored the first try ever recorded against the touring side on African soil. He was later selected as the 221 player to represent the South Africa national rugby union team - the Springboks.

That number, 221, has since become emblematic of his legacy. The van der Merwe family's wine estate, Alvi's Drift, established on the Breede River near Worcester, commemorates him through its 221 Range, named in his honour and symbolising his contribution to South African rugby history.^[4]

The farm itself takes its name from a low-water bridge constructed by van der Merwe across the Breede River in 1928 to connect his property with the surrounding valley. The name Breede (or Bree) derives from the Afrikaans word meaning "wide" or "broad." The bridge became known locally as "Alvi's Drift," a name that eventually came to identify both the estate and the wines produced there.^[5]

Albertus Viljoen van der Merwe's legacy continued through successive generations of the van der Merwe family. His son, Albertus Viljoen van der Merwe II, known as Oom Bertie, maintained the family's farming operations along the Breede River near Worcester. The third generation, Albertus Viljoen van der Merwe III, known as Alvi, also pursued rugby and represented Western Province at Under-20 level in 1985. He further developed the estate, expanding agricultural production to include commercial viticulture and winemaking within the Scherpenheuvel wine ward of the Worcester district in the Breede River Valley wine region. The estate remains a multi-generational family enterprise within South Africa's South African wine industry and is due to mark its centenary in 2028.

• List of South Africa national rugby union players