Border rugby player ‘Chappy’ Moll dies at 90

Perhaps his greatest moment on the field of play was when Border opposed the touring British Lions team in 1955

Former Border Currie Cup rugby player Alwin Ronald “Chappy” Moll, died on April 25 2021 at the age of 90.

He was born at Kei Mouth on August 27 1930 and was educated at Selborne College.

Moll gained Border colours in the mid-1950s as a loose forward.

Perhaps his greatest moment on the field of play was when Border opposed the touring British Lions team in 1955.

The match was played on Saturday, September 17 1955, and was the second-last match of the SA segment of the tour. One match was played in Nairobi on the trip home.

The popular tourists, who played an attractive, open style of rugby, depended on their outstanding backline which included England centre Jeff Butterfield and flyhalf Cliff Morgan of Wales.

However, they had lost their opening game against Western Transvaal and lost 20-0 to Eastern Province before the Border game but they were leading the Test series 2-1 against the Springboks with the final Test due to be played the following week at Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha.

The game drew a record crowd at the Border ground with many spectators overflowing onto the playing area.

Moll played eighthman that day and he stated that every member of the Border team were heroes and played their hearts out.

“We only had one real practice before the game,” Moll later recalled.

Moll’s teammate, lock Hilmar Puchert, recalls an exciting break by Border back Bennett “Peewee” Howe, who was later to gain Springbok colours, which had led to a try. The Border team realised that the tourists could be beaten.

“I was just 20 years old at the time,” Puchert said earlier this week, expressing sadness at the loss of his old teammate.

Puchert, 86, is believed to be the sole survivor of the victorious Border team. He confirmed that Moll had played a prominent role in a try scored by Border, having given the final pass to the try-scorer.

The final score of the match was 14-12 in Border’s favour.

Border had the reputation at the time of being giant-killers, as in 1949 they had beaten and then drawn matches against the touring New Zealand All Blacks team.

Moll worked as a wool buyer and after retiring from playing, he coached the Old Selbornians team for a number of years.

Moll died at the Lily Kirchmann Retirement Centre.