Bok captains immortalised
Cream of SA rugby gather at Springbok Experience
SEVERAL former Eastern Province and Springbok captains have been immortalised at a new state-of-the-art interactive South African Rugby Museum at the Waterfront in Cape Town.
Captains Peter Slabbert, Hannes Marais, Welile “Bomza” Nkhola and women’s captain Nomsebenzi Tsotsobe have had their handprints cast in bronze and they will be on public display as part of the new Springbok Experience exhibition at the museum.
Other Springbok captains with strong EP links inducted into the Hall of Fame are Allister Coetzee, Andre Vos and Rassie Erasmus.
The launch was marked by the ceremonial capturing of the handprints of a glittering array of 43 national team captains – from all South African rugby’s diverse traditions.
Current Springbok captain Jean de Villiers, as well as modern legends such as Francois Pienaar and Joost van Westhuizen, were joined by pre-unity rugby greats such as Thompson Magxala – who played 32 tests in a decade for the South African Rugby Board – and South African Rugby Football Federation stalwart Jack Juries.
SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins said a critical role of the Springbok Experience would be to redress an imbalance of the past by telling the often overlooked story of black rugby prior to rugby unity in 1992.
“They say that the past is a foreign country but in South Africa it is a troubled one as well,” said Hoskins.
“Our new rugby museum will embrace that past. We want to celebrate South African rugby in all its diverse histories as well as shine a spotlight on its troubles and turmoil and its growing pains.”
Hoskins said the ceremonial capturing of the handprints of living national rugby union captains – pre and post-unity – was a symbolic unifying of those traditions.
“There is no better way to link the past with the present than to take a piece of the past – in the shape of the hand prints – and place them into our present and future by capturing them for posterity and installing them as part of our Springbok Experience.”
Among those who had their handprints cast were Des van Jaarsveldt, the oldest living captain of the old South African Rugby Board Springboks, as well as Austen van Heerden, the oldest living captain of the former South African Coloured Rugby Football Board, and Bomza Nkhola, the oldest surviving captain of the South African African Rugby Board.
“This was a very special occasion and very humbling one,” said Hoskins. “To have more than 40 national captains agree to assemble on this day was an incredible way to launch The Springbok Experience.”
SA Rugby chief exective Jurie Roux said he believed The Spring- bok Experience would be an eye-opening new rugby attraction in South Africa.
“People can forget their traditional ideas of what museums are like – because the Springbok Experience will be completely different,” he said. “It will be interactive, digital and immersive as well as displaying some incredible artifacts in telling rugby’s South African story.”
Slabbert, a former EP captain, said it had been a memorable occasion to attend the opening with so many former Springbok captains.
“I made my EP debut in 1979 and in my first game scored the first try of the match. In 1982 I became vice-captain of the EP team with the great winger Desmond Kramer who led the side. Then, in 1983 I became captain until 1986 which was also the longest held uninterrupted captaincy in those years.”
In 1986, Slabbert was chosen to captain Saru against a Northern Zone 15 in Kimberley.
“I agree that a lot of changes have taken place in rugby, but that’s not enough,” Slabbert said.
“The other thing is that our bigger unions are ‘buying our rugby dead’. They’re buying players that never get any rugby (game time), with the result that those players just disappear from the scene.
“SA Rugby should maybe look at a data basis of all the contracted players and ask for a six-monthly progress report of each player, especially the under-21 and junior players,” Slabbert said.
“People I played with or against in my career are well-known names like Allister Coetzee, Desmond Kramer, Desmond Booysen, Cheeky Watson, Zola Yeye, Makhaya Jack, Edgar Maree, Anton Arends, Peter Jooste, Julian Smit and the well-known coach Mike Stallenberg.
“In 1995 I went with SA Legends to Bermuda coach by Nick Mallet and managed by Cheeky Watson.” The full list of captains – in historical order – honoured at the new musuem are: Des van Jaarsveldt, Avril Malan, Austen van Heerden, Abie Malan, Ebrahim Rinquest, Nelie Smith, John Bekkers, Dawie de Villiers, Welile “Bomza” Nkhola, Salie Fredericks, Norman Mbiko, Hannes Marais, Dougie Dyers, Piet Greyling, Liston Ntshongwana, Thompson Magxala, Cassiem Jabaar, Morné du Plessis, Jack Juries, Peter Jooste, Theuns Stofberg, Wynand Claassen, Julian Smith, Randy Marinus, Divan Serfontein, Naas Botha, Peter Slabbert, Fagmie Solomons, Jannie Breedt, Allister Coetzee, Francois Pienaar, Tiaan Strauss, Adriaan Richter, Gary Teichmann, Corné Krige, Rassie Erasmus, Joost van der Westhuizen, André Vos, Bob Skinstad, Nomsebenzi Tsotsobe, Ingrid Botha, Mandisa Williams, Jean de Villiers.