[3] Born in Karasburg, a small town in southern South West Africa (now Namibia), Mans attended school in Gobabis and after school moved to Bloemfontein, South Africa for tertiary studies at the University of the Orange Free State.
[citation needed] He made his senior provincial debut in South Africa for the Orange Free State in 1982 and in 1985 returned to his home country.
Namibia played its first test match on 24 March 1990 in Windhoek against Zimbabwe and Mans scored one of his team's six tries in a 33–18 victory.
Mans continued to play 27 test matches and scored 26 tries for Namibia and also captained the team 26 times.
Mans retired at the end of the 1994 season, after Namibia failed to qualify for the 1995 World Cup.