The Old Diocesan Issue 10 - Magazine - Page 62
Sum up your school career in
a sentence or two. [Laughter.]
Good to start with a lol.
That can be it if you like… I started
junior school at St Joseph’s, which
is just around the corner from
Bishops, and on the first day
I managed to get it wrong
logistically. When school finished,
I walked home from Rondebosch
all the way to Diep River… So it was
destined to be controversial and
interesting, and questionable at
times – but certainly entertaining.
Your favourite sports memories
from school days? I think definitely
rugby, from U14 to first team. We
drew sizable crowds, and for me
that was the most entertaining
thing as far as my sports career
was concerned at school. I didn’t
enjoy playing in front of nobody.
The bigger the crowd, the more
inspired I felt, the more fun it was.
Sometimes for the home games
we used to stay overnight in the
boarding houses, which was always
entertaining because I never went
to bed before 4.30am. Those were
long nights, those Friday nights
before home games at Bishops. The
home games were just phenomenal
– a different level of crowd, just
urging to bring the best out of you.
And cricket? Now that you remind
me, I really enjoyed the Rondebosch
vs Bishops game at Newlands [in
1992], but I can’t remember what
the score was. The cricket could
never compare to the rugby. It
was chalk and cheese.
Athletics? In athletics, the 100metre record was quite interesting,
because I never had any spikes to
run with. Two days before, I decided
to venture into lost property at
White House, and I found a pair
of Nike athletics spikes. And they
were the right fit. And even though
I was sponsored – I think I was
sponsored by Adidas and Patrick
during my final year at Bishops –
I managed to get that pair of Nikes
on and break the school record…
And then I quietly put them back
in lost property the same day.
I never ran on Tartan track.
Maybe if I had – and if I’d trained
– I could have shaved 0.1 or 0.2
seconds off.
Most influential teachers? Dobbo,
Tank and Basil. They had a soft spot
for me in class because of what
I had to offer on the rugby field.
Your proudest achievements as
a sportsman? I’ve never heard of
any other sportsman making SA
Schools rugby, cricket and soccer.
I made SA Schools soccer in U16,
not U19, because I had to give up
soccer. But I don’t think there’s
been a sportsman who’s made
SA colours in those three major
sports since I left school.
Professionally, I played 14 years
internationally, and it was always
going to be about Test cricket for
me. On debut at Eden Gardens [in
November 1996] we had a sellout
crowd every day, virtually 100,000
people per day. I remember batting
at number three; I had waited five
hours because Hudders and Gary
Kirsten had got 200-odd for the first
wicket. I managed to get 30 and
three run-outs in that particular
match. But it was just sensational
to have played in front of almost
half a million people. [Kirsten hit
two centuries and Lance Klusener
took eight wickets, also on debut,
for a famous South African victory.]
Tell us something we don’t know
about the 438 game. I didn’t even
Herschelle was a magician on the rugby field, and could well have been a Bok;
three of his 1992 First XV teammates were. Here he scores with Dougie Boyes
in support. (See Issue 8 of The Old Diocesan for more on that golden era.)
58 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
watch Boucher hit the winning
runs. Many people know the kind
of state I was in on the morning of
that game. We’d been on the liquid
grapes from about 2.30pm the day
before, and I only played because
there wasn’t an extra batter in the
squad. Otherwise I wouldn’t have
played. I was definitely the worse
for wear. In the field, I was just
wishing the ball wouldn’t come
to me; luckily it didn’t really.