HEART OF THE NATION
Bok legend had been worried about his health
● The smiling Springbok had grown concerned in recent times.
Chester Williams’ mortality had started to weigh on the shoulders of a man who had carried the hopes and dreams of his nation.
He was approaching his 50th birthday next year with increasing unease, that he too may be predisposed to a heart condition that has devastated his family.
His sister suffered a heart attack a week ago. She remains in hospital. His brother Wilmot died of a similar affliction when still in high school.
Reports of Williams’ last interactions with his friends and family have started to emerge.
The last time I spoke to him was last Saturday. He had caught wind of the fact that I was looking for him to talk about the launch of the new beer that bears his name.
When he called we only spoke for two minutes about the sole SA beer made available on the Japanese market, but his excitement was palpable.
Towards the end of the call he seemed a little distracted. Someone else demanded his attention and Chessi doesn’t say “no”. His generosity of spirit put him in constant demand.
I wished him good luck with the new venture and we said our goodbyes.
Although he comes from a rugby family, with his father Wilfred representing the Federation team that played the British
Lions in 1974 and his uncle Avril Williams going on to play for the Springboks a decade later, Chessi recognised that he hadn’t been bestowed the raw talent of his rivals. He knew however that determination and dedication aren’t confined by boundaries. He went in pursuit of his dream to play for the Springboks and along that journey he became a pioneer, breaking down barriers, exploring new frontiers.
He became the first black South African to represent SA at the Rugby World Cup, albeit in a roundabout way.
Although he was selected, injury, which proved a near constant companion, precluded his initial involvement in the 1995 tournament.
It was only after Pieter Hendriks was banned that a fit-again Williams was roped in.
His impact was immediate, with four tries against the bone-rattle tackling Samoans at Ellis Park and he and his teammates famously stayed the course.
Given his background, representing the Springboks meant almost everything to Williams. He had kept memorabilia from his playing days, garlanding a dedicated room with blazers, jerseys and caps. He had passed on the jersey in which he became a RWC winner to his dad but his winner’s medal as well as the Mandela medal he held precious.
He had that to hold on to. Unlike his teammates Williams opted not to sign a lucrative post-RWC deal that also marked the advent of the professional era. He didn’t share in the riches but he remained a consummate professional.
The memorabilia also served as a reminder of his perseverance. Injury was to blight his career but he kept coming back.
By the time he joined the Lions in 1999 debilitating knee injuries had somewhat reduced Williams as a force on the left wing.
Even if his knees did not support his movement as they did in his pomp, sheer determination continued to make him a redoubtable opponent. He scored seven tries for the Golden Lions in that season’s Currie Cup, including one in the final.
Williams finally had a Currie Cup winner’s medal, a gong that so tantalisingly eluded him at his beloved Western Province the year earlier.
Though his form that year wasn’t enough to earn him a spot on the Springboks’ plane bound for the RWC in Wales, Williams was back in favour in 2000.
By the time Williams pulled the Bok jersey over his head for the last time in the bowels of the then Millennium Stadium in 2000, his work, on the field certainly, was done.
The baton had been passed on. Breyton Paulse had emerged as the player to take forward the fight and as the SA Player of the Year in 1994 retreated, Paulse perhaps fittingly scooped the accolade in 2000.
Williams’ last tour with the Springboks truly represented the end of an era. Outside of RWCs it was the last long tour the Springboks embarked on.
It included a full roster of midweek matches ahead of four Tests and was topped off with an additional week in Cardiff where the Boks played the Barbarians to conclude a five-week marathon.
Even when it was time to put up his name in lights as we attempted to trumpet the retirement of a man who had given the country so much, he was a little reticent.
I cornered him in the lobby of the Bok hotel in South Kensington to ask him if he was going to retire after the tour. He was non-committal.
Perhaps he didn’t want to detract from the following Saturday’s Test against England. Williams never made it about himself.
As a coach Williams didn’t hit the stratosphere like he did as a player. As a son of the soil he didn’t need to. He was far more valuable working with grassroots talent where he continued to inspire.
He coached in South Africa, Uganda, Tunisia and Romania.
More recently his contributions as head coach of the University of the Western Cape further underlined his credentials as a man who just keeps on giving.
Rugby has lost another son who helped SA bask further in the afterglow of a successful first democratic election. Just this week the notion of the Rainbow Nation that they helped create eroded further as amid deep political turmoil and its resultant socioeconomic upheaval, the darker forces among us continued to drag the country to the brink.
There may be despair, but there’s hope too. If there is something we can take from the 49 years we had Williams as a caring compatriot, it is that where there is belief, there is hope.
It is his gift to us.
Chester Williams may have succumbed to a heart attack on Friday, but not before he captured the hearts and minds of a nation.