Thys Lourens (born 15 May 1943 in Vryheid, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union footballer. He played 168 matches for Northern Transvaal in the Currie Cup competition. He captained the team on 84 occasions.
Only Louis Moolman (171), Naas Botha (179) and Burger Geldenhuys (184) have played in more matches than Lourens. His usual position was as a flanker, where he also played for the national team, the Springboks.
He played three times for South Africa, the first of which was on 22 June 1968, when he played at flanker in a match against Britain at the Boet Erasmus Stadium in Port Elizabeth, which resulted in a six-all draw. He played in the subsequent test at Newlands in which he scored a try in the 11 to six win. He earned a third cap in the third match of the test series, at Ellis Park, which saw the Springboks win 19 to six.