Andrew Rabutla

The former Jomo Cosmos defender on his feared reputation that led to the nickname ‘Jaws of Life’ and what he is up to now.

“I NEVER WENT OUT TO HURT ANYBODY ON THE FIELD.”

The prospect of playing for Kaizer Chiefs is considered a dream for many players but tough-as-nails defender Andrew Rabutla turned down his chance and chose Jomo Cosmos instead. Rabutla spoke to KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo about why he also stayed loyal to Jomo Sono when Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United later came knocking for his services.

When domestic football still had the old school centre-backs who were neither apologetic nor hesitant in going into hard tackles, Andrew Rabutla was the pinup boy for them.

Rabutla built a reputation as a defender who took no prisoners and was feared by m many, and yet he also inspired those that believed in battle-hardened players.

It was befitting that he was nicknamed ‘Jaws of Life’ before he had even completed his first home game after joining Jomo Cosmos in 1996 from Rabali Blackpool.

“You are always given a nickname becausebec of the way you play and that was the case with me,” Rabutla tells KICK OFF.

“If you are a player and you don’t have a nickname it shows that you are not doing the right things. I didn’t have a choice but to like the name because it came from the fans. The way I tackled was not about being soft, but rather being hard in getting the ball fairly. It was never about playing the man. “People became scared of me so that is why I accepted the name because I didn’t take nonsense.”

Born in Tzaneen in Limpopo, Rabutla was signed to be tough on the field and carried the resolve of a soldier in him.

He was viewed as the enemy at Kaizer Chiefs after Patrick Mabedi and Serge Djiehoua both came off second-best in challenges with Rabutla.

‘Maybe I am a bit aggressive’

In 2002, after an incident which saw Mabedi rushed to hospital, Chiefs threatened to take legal action against the then Cosmos man, who was encouraged by the streetwise Jomo Sono to make sure the opponents could feel his presence.

“OK, maybe I am a bit aggressive by nature because since I was a kid, I was tough. People have their own way of seeing me.

I am from Limpopo and grew up on pap every day, so I had to be strong and not be a softie.

“I never went out to hurt anybody on the field. I was just strong. I was telling Jabu Pule [Mahlangu] the other day about how simple it was dealing with him. You just needed to be hard and firm on him so that he starts complaining and stops with his tricks.

“At times I would win the ball fairly but find opponents throwing themselves on the ground. People who say I was rough are Kaizer Chiefs fans because I frustrated their players who wanted to be left to hammer us.

“Chiefs even mentioned wrong people when they said I broke Mike Rapatsa and Sipho Khuse. Even with Patrick Mabedi, he pulled out of a 50-50 challenge and I landed badly. He got injured.

“I never touched Mabedi, and he knows very well what happened, but just wanted to satisfy the fans by talking nonsense. He took it personally and one day I met him here in Polokwane and I greeted him, but he just kept quiet.

“I just laughed to myself thinking that this guy is taking sports personal. This is just football and he needed to take a leaf from Jerry [Sikhosana], who I had ugly duels with on the field, but we would be together in Tembisa after games.

“Even with Serge [Djiehoua], who it was

said I injured, I didn’t do anything to him. He just pulled out late, which is why the referee didn’t even call for a foul. People then started making noise because it was me.

“Jomo liked defenders that are hard because he knew this is the kind of defender that strikers don’t like playing against having played in attack himself. Even at training I used to have fights with our Senegalese forward Mamadou Diallo because I used to be hard on him, because I needed Bra J to field me over the weekend.

“Jomo liked defenders who will not be taken advantage of by opponents and it was his plan for winning games,” he explains, seeking to justify his actions.

Taking on Jerry Sikhosana

Though he always intimidated opponents with how tough he did his man-marking job, Rabutla was never one to employ the age-old trick of talking players out of the game.

Jerry Sikhosana is said to be one who can attest to the treatment he got in the 1996 BOB Save Super Bowl final.

“I was never a loudmouth. Opponents were already scared of me, so I didn’t need to talk. For that final the newspaper called it a ‘Jaws of Life vs Legs of Thunder’ battle. The way the article was written it made it look like we were going to war and when the game started Jerry said, ‘please don’t kick me my friend’. I just kept quiet, and Jerry wasn’t impressed that I wasn’t saying a word.

“Then, after I missed him with one tackle, he started telling me that I am earning peanuts at Cosmos, but I still kept quiet. Jerry didn’t score that day because my grip on him was tight. Their winner was scored by Andries Sebola.

“He [Sikhosana] started swearing and telling me that just because I earn little at Cosmos, I now want to destroy his career. I just kept quiet and when the ball came to him, I would just go harder.

“He ended up crying and apologising saying, ‘please bro, I am under pressure and want to score’. I didn’t talk to him because I didn’t want him to know what I am thinking.

“Players from big clubs saw themselves as bigger because they thought we would ask for their jerseys after games, but at Cosmos we didn’t do that. Jomo would never allow that so that is why big teams found it hard to beat us,” says Rabutla.

Leaving Sundowns for Rabali

Unknown to many is that Rabutla started out his career at Mamelodi Sundowns in 1992 after his uncle brought him to Mamelodi from Tzaneen just past his 20th birthday.

When he went to Rabali Blackpool, where he made his top-flight debut in 1995, he was on loan from Sundowns.

“I was signed by Sundowns development coach Greg Mashilo after just one training session and went on to play in the reserves with Themba Mnguni, Hluphi Magolego, Fire [Joel] Masilela, Mambush Mudau, Solly Phetla and Happy Nkadimeng,” he reveals.

His stay at Rabali lasted just a season before Jomo Sono came calling at a time when he could have ended up at Chiefs.

“We played Cosmos in Thohoyandou and after the game Bra J sent one of his guys, who didn’t have respect and just pulled up in our dressing room, saying he is looking for a foreigner who was playing at the back.

“Remember, I am dark and tall, so it is easy to count me as being foreign. But we were surprised when he pointed his finger at me as I came out of the shower. I told him I am from Tzaneen, but he pulled me with his hand to Bra J, who then said I must come to Johannesburg the next day.

“They sent a driver to come and fetch me in Tzaneen but then the problem was that the owner of Blackpool had already taken my clearance to Chiefs as a way of thanking them for loaning him players like Cyril Nzama.

“The Blackpool boss came at night to where I was staying at the Carlton Hotel and demanded that I should go to Chiefs. Luckily, my family intervened and said I cannot go to Chiefs when I am still a young amateur.

“It was felt that I would get better grooming at Cosmos and so in the end I went there because Bra J told me that he is the owner and coach, so he will play me. At Chiefs game-time was not guaranteed.

“Bra K [Kaizer Motaung] was understanding and told me that he doesn’t want to fight with Bra J. I don’t regret joining Cosmos, where I started off on a salary of R2,100 per month, plus win bonuses. We didn’t play for money at that time, we just wanted to appear on television,” he says.

‘I was living my dream’

In his first season with Cosmos, he started knocking on the Bafana Bafana door for an international career that eventually won him 19 caps.

His debut came midway through 1997 in the international friendly against the Netherlands, after which he was then signed by Greek club PAOK Salonika.

In just over two years, Rabutla had broken into top-flight football, made his Bafana Bafana debut and left for Europe.

“The Greek club saw me in that game [against the Netherlands] and at the end of the match Clarence Seedorf gave me his jersey number 10. Between 1995-2000 I was living my dream, winning Player of the Year at Cosmos, then playing for Bafana and leaving for overseas.

“What more could a guy from Ramotshinyadi village ask for? I was meant to have gone to Greece with Helman Mkhalele, but he opted for Turkey. When I arrived at the airport the fans welcomed me with songs but wanted to know where Mkhalele was and they were not impressed when I told them he had gone to Turkey.

“A few months later, [Zimbabwe midfielder] Kennedy Nagoli went to our city rivals Aris Saloniki and so one day I went to watch his team play. To my surprise, police were called to take me out of the stadium because I was a PAOK player! They pulled me out of the stadium in Thessaloniki while the game was on because I was not wanted at their game.

“That was when I learnt that if another team is playing you must not go and watch. I had innocently gone to watch my friend Kennedy playing but when it was found out that there was a PAOK player in the stadium, I was chased out. Aris players also never come to PAOK’s home ground,” recalls Rabutla, who didn’t last long in Greece despite playing in the UEFA Cup, in which they came unstuck against Atletico Madrid after surprisingly knocking Arsenal out in the previous round.

“I got injured at a Bafana Bafana camp ahead of the famous win against Congo. At that time there were the club versus country issues. Then the coach that had brought me to Greece left and it was never the same, which is why I then returned to Cosmos,” he says.

Re-joining his former club was motivated by his loyalty to Sono, as he had offers from Pirates and SuperSport United.

“It was then that I realised that I shouldn’t betray Bra J because this is the man who took me to the [1998] AFCON finals after my injury and I believe I did well there. I had offers on the table from Pirates and SuperSport, but I decided that I will not talk to anyone and let Bra J decide. I ended up taking Bra J’s offer because I felt I needed to still play more for Cosmos after having not stayed long the first time.

“I even told Bra J that I will rather focus on playing football at Cosmos when he told me about the interest from SuperSport. We were not a bad team when I was at Cosmos because we were in the top eight, won trophies and got into cup finals.

“I have no regrets about having chosen Cosmos when I came back from Europe because I don’t know what would have happened had I gone to another club. I’m an honest guy who is loyal,” he says.

Rabutla, who turns 50 this year and has five children, played for Cosmos until 2006, after which he took up a role as team manager at the club.

He worked at Ezenkosi until 2015, when he left for a similar role at Black Leopards and is now resident in Polokwane, where he runs business interests and an academy from which he is growing his player management profile.

“PEOPLE WHO SAY I WAS ROUGH ARE KAIZER CHIEFS FANS BECAUSE I FRUSTRATED THEIR PLAYERS.”