So proud of our boy, Faf
The Bok scrumhalf ’s parents reveal what Faf was like as a child and why they always watch big matches at home
HE WAS still a tiny primary school tot when he started telling everyone he was going to be a professional sportsman, but no one could pinpoint which sport he’d choose. Francois “Faf ” de Klerk was good at everything he tried – athletics, cricket, gymnastics, rugby, you name it. His parents supported him every step of the way, cheering him on in whatever endeavour took his fancy at the time. But not even they could’ve predicted their irrepressible son would become one of the most talked-about sportsmen in the world. Or one of the most photographed after revealing what goes on under his rugby shorts.
Still, dad Tobie (67) and mom Corrie (54) weren’t that surprised when their son greeted Britain’s Prince Harry in only his itty-bitty patriotic swimsuit.
The post-final locker-room scene reminded Corrie of a play her son was involved in during his first year at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
“He won the prize for best actor but his character wore only a tiny strip of material down there,” she says. “After the fuss about the briefs started, I immediately thought of that ‘costume’.”
When the Springboks won the Webb Ellis Cup, Tobie and Corrie were glued to their TV screen. But unlike hundreds of thousands of South Africans who followed the game in pubs or taverns, the De Klerks chose to watch in the relative seclusion of Faf ’s half-brother Tobie Jnr’s home in Pretoria.
The couple never watch a rugby match in a public space. “Especially something like a final. It gets quite emotional. You need to be among friends so you can let the tears flow freely,” says Tobie, who works in quality control at a security company.
“People get really worked up too. I don’t like having to hear strangers boo the Boks whenever they don’t agree with what’s happening on the field.
“Also, I have a bit of a temper and I can’t keep quiet – especially if someone wants to yap about something they don’t really understand,” he says.
Like when some of the couch potatoes out there tore into Faf (28) on social media because he “keeps kicking the ball away”. Those comments hurt, says Corrie, an insurance broker. Tobie is still a bit worked up about it too. “It’s not Faf ’s usual play pattern,” he says. “It was clearly under [coach] Rassie’s instructions – and it was a game plan that worked.”
When the whistle blew at the end of the sensational final, Tobie Jnr (45) jumped up and yelled, “Where are those critics now?”
STEPPING into Tobie and Corrie’s Pretoria townhouse, it’s clear rugby is a way of life here. A framed jersey of Faf ’s hangs in the entrance hall and a pair of boots are perched on a cabinet. Pictures of their son are stuck on the fridge and miniature Springbok jerseys hang in a row in the living room.
It’ll come as no surprise to anyone who’s watched Faf whirlwind his way around the field to hear his parents describe him as “an incredibly lively little boy”.
He walked at nine months and could swim at two-and-a-half. By the age of four he had his first yellow belt in karate and his trainer asked his parents to take their son out of the class “because he’s progressing too fast”. You need to be at least 12 before you can get your black belt, Tobie explains.
Corrie recalls another story that still makes the family laugh. Faf was five
‘Prince Harry can be glad Faf wasn’t completely naked’
when they went to see a performance by musician and comedian Eddie Eckstein, and during the show Eddie asked if a child in the audience wanted to sing a song on stage. Up popped Faf ’s hand and he made a beeline for the stage where he belted out Jesus Loves Me.
When Faf was in Grade 9 at Hoërskool Nelspruit in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, he asked if he could complete his high school career at Hoërskool Waterkloof in Pretoria to focus on cricket.
He’d have to board though, and “it was hard for us,” Corrie says. “But we agreed.”
“But just three months later, we decided he couldn’t leave home yet,” Tobie says. “So we packed up and moved to Pretoria so he could live at home.”
It wasn’t long before Faf was playing first team rugby and cricket for Waterkloof. After matric in 2009, he wanted to study teaching at UJ. “But then he realised he’d have too many classes and wouldn’t have enough time for sport,” Tobie says. “So he did a diploma in logistical management.”
The Golden Lions were quick to recruit Faf during his student years and he played in their under-19 and under-21 teams. “Back then he was playing for R1 000 a month plus his study fees. In 2013 he got a contract with the Pumas at R3 000 a month. I’ve never seen anyone’s salary triple like that,” Corrie says proudly.
THE swimsuit that caused all the fuss was one of several pairs the Bok team had been gifted by Kurt Schmelzer, who produces the garments and is Springbok captain Siya Kolisi’s old school friend.
“Faf wears his under his rugby shorts because they’re so comfortable,” Corrie explains.
Tobie chuckles when the subject of Faf shaking Harry’s hand wearing only his briefs comes up again. “Harry can be glad Faf wasn’t completely naked,” he says.
At just 1,7m, Faf is one of the shortest Boks but size means nothing to him.
Former Springbok lock Johann Muller once described Faf as “small as a Jack Russell but with the heart of a lion”.
That’s how his dad thinks of him too. “He goes for an opponent and he’s not afraid to tackle. I think he uses it to motivate his teammates too.”
Tobie was able to speak to his son only the day after the final in Yokohama. “I remember telling him, ‘ Well done, I’m proud of you’.”
As the celebrations started, viewers saw Faf ’s girlfriend, Miné van Niekerk (27), join in the festivities, swigging from a bottle of champagne.
Faf met Miné, a pharmacist from Postmasburg in the Northern Cape, about three years ago during a holiday in Hermanus in the Western Cape. A mutual friend introduced them, Corrie says.
“A while later, she invited him to go to a wedding in Bloemfontein because he’s such a good dancer. The next thing we knew they were a couple.”
It’s a “long-, long-distance relationship”, Tobie says, since Faf has been playing club rugby for the Sale Sharks in Manchester, England, since 2017.
“But when Faf is in South Africa, he’s at his happiest on her dad’s farm. He loves nature,” he adds.
When the Boks returned to SA Faf spent two nights with his parents before the team headed off on their victory tour of the country. Soon he’ll go back to England and his parents are planning to visit him there in December.
“He’ll braai for us, despite meat costing an arm and a leg over there,” Tobie says.
Of course, it will be cold there then so Faf will have to keep his swimsuit under wraps. Although with him, you never know.