James Small
‘Bad boy’ of South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning side
JAMES SMALL, who has died of a heart attack aged 50, was a rugby union winger who won the World Cup with South Africa in 1995, putting in an immense shift in the final against the mighty New Zealander, Jonah Lomu; but he could not help attracting unwanted attention throughout his career and became known as the “bad boy” of the Springboks.
James Terence Small was born in Cape Town on February 10 1969, and attended Greenside High School in Johannesburg. In his teens he was banned from a football league after a bust-up with a referee and switched to rugby union.
He marked himself out as a rising talent with the Transvaal under-20s side and made his full international debut in 1992 in the “Return Test” that marked South Africa’s re-emergence from the sporting wilderness of the apartheid years. Although New Zealand won 27-24, Small had secured his place as a regular starter.
Later that year the darker side of his character was in evidence when he became the first Springbok to be sent off, for arguing with the referee on a tour match in Australia. The official, he always insisted, was “a oneeyed idiot”.
He was soon making more headlines thanks to a series of on-field scraps and nightclub altercations, while his relationship with the actress and model Christina Storm, who would later accuse him of physically abusing her, meant that the paparazzi were never far away.
Having suffered discrimination himself in his youth, being of British descent rather than Dutch, Small viewed the end of apartheid with enthusiasm, and quickly learnt the lyrics to the new national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel’ iafrika. When the Springboks visited Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned, he was deeply moved. “Thinking about Mandela’s cell,” he said, “and how he spent 27 years in prison and came out with love and friendship, all that washed over me, that huge realisation, and the tears just rolled down my face.”
His black international team-mate Chester Williams would recall in his autobiography, however, that Small’s sledging could get out of hand, and that when they had faced each other at provincial level
Small had called him a “kaffir”. Williams did, though, speak warmly of Small when his death was announced, remarking: “He had a soft heart. He always cared for kids and for people who were struggling financially.”
The 1995 World Cup was invested with great symbolic meaning, marking the South African nation’s return to the global stage. The Springboks sailed through the group stage with convincing wins against Australia, Romania and Canada, then disposed of Western Samoa 42-14 in the quarter-finals and France 19-15 in the semis.
In the final they faced the All Blacks and their manmountain, Jonah Lomu, who was used to scattering all before him and had scored four tries in the semi-final dismantling of England. Undaunted, Small marked him out of the final and South Africa were world champions, winning a tight, tryless encounter 15-12.
The presentation of the trophy to the victorious captain, Francois Pienaar, by Mandela clad in a Springboks shirt, is often cited as one of the greatest moments in world sport.
Small carried on for another two seasons, playing 47 Tests in all and scoring 20 tries. His last appearance in the green and gold jersey came in the 68-10 demolition of Scotland, in which he scored two of the 10 tries. At provincial level he had represented Natal Sharks and Western Province.
In 2009 Small was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a drug binge that ended in him slashing his wrists. One of the first people to call him was Nelson Mandela.
Small, who had worked as a model and also owned several restaurants, is survived by two children.
James Small, born February 10 1969, died July 10 2019