Memories make this madness worthwhile by Brenden Nel 16/03/2016, 19:39
It hasn’t come as a surprise that in the past few weeks after being involved in a few rugby quiz battles, and getting to an age that tends to do these things, nostalgia seems to creep in more than it normally would.
Reminiscing on the “good old days” is often scoffed at, joked about and especially now in a world of rugby where the weekends seem to fly by with the pace of a stealth bomber, those memories seem to be fewer by the year.
It’s not that there isn’t a gluttony of rugby to get excited about, it is just that perhaps in being treated to the best the world has seen every single weekend, it sometimes loses its impact.
It dawned on me the other day when a work colleague posted a picture on Facebook of some 1995 Boks, with the caption that these are the players he tells his children about.
It took me back to a time when I heard the stories of Mannetjies Roux, Hennie “Windhond” Muller and the great Frik du Preez. I have my own personal favourites and to this day remain obsessed with the 1981 Tour of New Zealand, the 3am sessions in front of the television and the stories around that tour.
The scenes in Hamilton in 1981 where protesters burst through the fence and prevented the Springboks from playing Waikato. I was up at 3am, angry with the protesters simply because I wanted to see rugby played, never realising the bigger issues at play.
It was a privilege a few years ago to be delighted by legendary commentator Keith Quinn, who shared stories of secret police and attempted kidnappings in that series, stories I’d never heard before and those that seem truly bizarre in the modern context of the game.
Which brings me to the book that also sparked the nostalgia.
Wessel Oosthuizen has just produced a magnificent massive book – Portrait of Rugby – which totals no less than 1 237 photos over 736 pages and if you’re into rugby history, it is a feast that keeps on giving.
For those who don’t know Oosthuizen, he has been covering South African rugby for more than 40 years now, and is a legend in the game. He is retired but keeps working and still manages to take some of the best photos of any photographer around the world.
I worked with him at the Citizen in the 90s and have bumped into him in obscure places like Moscow and Montpellier, and if there is one thing I know, it is that if you need a pic of an incident in a game, he is pretty much your first port of call.
That being said it made me wonder about the stories I would relay to the next generation? Which gems I remember from the games I’ve covered over the last 20 years. There are more than a few, and I was delighted to see many of these in the book, captured for eternity in those special moments.
For me it would be Ray Mordt's hat-trick of tries in the third test against the All Blacks in 1981 at Eden Park in Auckland, the 1987 Currie Cup final where as a Lions fan and schoolkid I cursed the great Naas Botha. The Super 10 victory of Francois Pienaar’s Lions in 1993, the 1998 Currie Cup final at Loftus and of course the victories in 1995 and 2007 at the Rugby World Cup.
The book is a journey through time that captures countless father-son, brotherly and other family bonds in rugby, remembering those who have passed and the moments that make up the rich tapestry of South African rugby.
From Oosthuizen’s 1970 Sports Photo of the Year – where Frik du Preez absolutely clatters All Black Chris Laidlaw in that series through all the other pictures that all tell a story, you understand how rugby has changed over the years, how the game has evolved and the characters who became legends earned their status.
Remember when rucking was allowed. Alex Wylie – or Grizz as he is affectionately known – shows off his mountaineering skills against Griquas in Kimberley in 1970. Wonder what a citing commissioner would think of that these days?
There are too many stories to be told to fill a column like this, but the difference when players of old scored tries to the modern era where they pick out the photographers behind the tryline to dive their way into the papers, there are more than your fair share to tell the next generation.
This book has sparked many a memory, but if you had to tell a tale to your children, or one day your grandchildren, what would it be? What memories do you hold dear in SA Rugby? What makes you smile when you think about it?
Rugby delivers so many memories to us every single day. With so much going on nowadays it is up to us to cherish those that are special.
• Wessel Oosthuizen’s book can be ordered from him at wesoos@telkomsa.net
