Class of 2009

Candidates for induction into the IRB Hall of Fame

20th Century:

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20.1 Charles Henry 'Cherry' Pillman (England, Lions) (1890-1955) - The Blackheath and England wing forward was, without doubt, the star of the 1910 Lions tour, the last before the Great War. He won the first of his 18 caps earlier that year against Scotland and during a season which included the first ever Five Nations Championship, he established himself as a leading forward for club and country. The hard grounds of South Africa suited the lean 6ft hound who became the leading personality of the tour. Dr Danie Craven simply said that Pillman "must be looked upon as one of the originators of what became known as the loose forward." He was so supremely skilful that he was able to play fly half in the last two Tests, and revert to his wing forward position for the last match of the tour against Western Province. He was described by South Africa captain Billy Millar as the greatest ever flank forward who revolutionised the South African concept of forward play. One wonders what might have been had Pillman been able to play in the first Test, which he missed due to injury. Although not regarded as a recognised kicker, he finished the tour as the leading Lions scorer with 67 points, which included six tries, three penalties, 18 conversions and a drop goal.

20.2 Jeffrey 'Jeff' Butterfield (England, Lions) (1929-2004) - Born in Heckmondwike, Yorkshire, on 9 August 1929, Jeff Butterfield reached the international scene while playing at centre for Northampton. He had also played for his native Yorkshire and captained them in two county finals in the early 1950s. One of the most gifted and intelligent centres to have represented England, Butterfield made his international debut against France in 1953, winning a total of 28 successive caps, and captained his country during his last season. During his tenure he became England's most capped back, contributing to the success of the team that won four Five Nations Championships, two Triple Crowns and a Grand Slam. He also made a huge impact on the 1955 Lions, when his polished style, sublime skills and timing of a pass, knowledge and demeanour, should have given him, in the words of his fellow tourist and Lions historian Clem Thomas, "the captaincy of the Lions". Butterfield, who also acted as fitness coach for the team, scored tries in three of the four Test matches as the tourists became the first to share the series with the Springboks since the turn of the century. He also toured New Zealand in 1959, when injury prevented him from making the Test side.

20.3 James T 'Jim' Greenwood (Scotland, Lions) - Born in December 1928, the 6ft 2in backrower, despite his remarkable playing record for both Scotland and the 1955 Lions in South Africa, has achieved world fame as coach, author and mentor of students at Loughborough University. Greenwood won his first Scottish cap from the Dunfermline club while a student at Edinburgh University in 1952, but then dropped out of the limelight for a couple of years while he did his National Service in the RAF and played infrequently for Harlequins in London. He returned to Scotland in 1954 and started teaching English and coaching rugby at Glenalmond, recommencing his international career against France the following year. His scintillating form in the 1955 Five Nations, but more than anything else his rugby brain and outstanding work-rate, won him a place on the Lions touring party to South Africa, the first ever to travel by airplane. On a tour loaded with talented players he established himself as the leading contender for the openside back row position and played in all four Tests, scoring two tries. It is thought that the hard South African grounds suited his style of play, though for Scotland he played most of his rugby at number 8. He captained Scotland until 1959, when an injury against Ireland brought his playing career to an end, although not before he led his men to a win over the 1958 Wallabies. With his playing days behind him, Greenwood embarked on a teaching and coaching career that made him the leading, and probably most influential, rugby thinker of his time. His book "Total Rugby", first published in 1978 and four more times since, has been described as the most significant of all rugby coaching manuals. Former All Black coach Wayne Smith said: "It took maybe 20 minutes to recognise that Jim's way of coaching was the most effective I'd come across. I was an All Black then, and when I became the All Blacks coach I was into his methods, helped by his books." Greenwood travelled the world to help Unions implement his revolutionary "Total Rugby" vision, while back at Loughborough he started coaching Women' Rugby and helped the formation of the Great Britain and then England teams, whom he coached and nurtured to the World Championship title in 1994.

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20.4 Sir Anthony Joseph Francis 'Tony' O'Reilly (Ireland, Lions) - Born in Dublin on 7 May 1936, Tony O'Reilly was only 19 when he embarked on the adventure of his life with the star-studded 1955 Lions team to South Africa. An Old Belvedere player, O'Reilly made his international debut against France in January 1955 at the age of 18, one of the youngest players to represent his country. His remarkable Five Nations campaign was rewarded with a Lions blazer, which he honoured in style on a tour in which he played 15 matches, scoring 16 tries. Described by fellow tourist and Lions historian Clem Thomas as an unusually mature 19 year-old, O'Reilly made the right wing berth his own, playing in all four Tests and scoring two tries. The tall and rangy winger reached playing maturity on the 1959 tour of Australia and New Zealand when he scored 21 tries in as many games, including the six Tests. His total of 37 tries on two tours is still a Lions record. Away from the Lions scene he played 30 times for the Barbarians, scoring 38 tries, both of which are records for the club with no home ground. After the 1955 Lions tour, O'Reilly returned to international action for Ireland with devastating efficiency. He scored four tries against France and four against Scotland in 1956, another four against Wales in 1959 and four more against France in 1963. He made his 29th and final international appearance for Ireland against England in 1970.

20.5 Clifford 'Cliff' Isaac Morgan CVO OBE (Wales, Lions) - Born in the mining village of Trebanog on 7 April 1930, Cliff Morgan is one of the legends of Welsh rugby, winning 29 caps in a career which started in 1951 against Ireland, playing opposite his hero Jack Kyle, and ended in 1958. He helped Wales win the Triple Crown in 1952, played in a magnificent win over the visiting All Blacks in 1953 and captained his country to the Five Nations title in 1956. The 25-year-old Cardiff outside half was selected for the Lions tour and made a huge contribution to its success. Teammate and future scribe Clem Thomas described Morgan as "the irrepressible Welsh wizard", the linchpin of a remarkably gifted back division. He played in 15 matches on tour and started in all four Tests, serviced by a young scrum half Dick Jeeps, who played for the Lions before he had played for England. Morgan scored a try in the first Test, one still described by some as the greatest Rugby match in history. The Springboks led 11-8 at half time, but soon after the break Morgan scored a brilliant individual try between the posts to set the scene for the first defeat of the Springboks on their home ground in 17 years. With the tour captain Robin H Thompson of Instonians, Ulster and Ireland injured in the 19th match of the tour against Northern Transvaal and the two sides sharing the Test count with one each, Morgan was appointed captain for the third Test, the first ever played at Pretoria. "Morgan the Magnificent", as the South African press called him, provided both the inspiration and the tactical vision for a famous 9-6 win which meant the Lions could not lose the series. Behind a dominant pack and with the great Rhys Williams reigning supreme at the front of the lineout, Morgan kicked relentlessly to show another facet of his multifarious genius. He joined the BBC, initially as a reporter, and retired in 1987 as the Head of TV Outside Broadcasts, having worked in a number of jobs for the Corporation, from commentator to sports organiser for BBC Wales in 1958. He was awarded an OBE in 1977 and a CVO 1986.

20.6 William James 'Willie John' McBride (Ireland, Lions) - Born on 6 June 1940 in Toomebridge, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, he played for the Ballymena club and Ulster province before he was selected by Ireland. Probably one of the finest forwards to have graced a rugby field, he played lock for Ireland 63 times between 1962 and 1975, making his international debut against England at Twickenham. He matched Johnny Hammond's record of touring South Africa three times, though unlike the English forward who only played on two tours in 1891 and 1896, managing the third in 1903, McBride played on three tours in 1962, 1968 and 1974, the latter as captain. He began his impressive playing career for the Lions in 1962 against Namibia - at the time called South West Africa - and finished 12 years and 68 matches later with the final Test against South Africa on the historic 1974 tour, having also been a member of the 1971 all-conquering tour of New Zealand. The earlier tours helped him understand the mentality of South African rugby and be ready to "do the necessary" to overcome the tactics of the hosts. He was resilient and hard and made sure that his team would not be subject to the kind of physical intimidation that undermined the best efforts of previous Lions tours to South Africa. He implemented efficiently and thoroughly the plans he had devised together with coach Syd Millar, the architect of the success in 1974. Overall, he toured with the British and Irish Lions a record six times, once as manager - to New Zealand in 1983 - once as captain and four times as a player.

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20.7 Phil 'Benny' Bennett (Wales, Lions) - Born on 24 October 1948 in Felinfoel in Wales, Phil Bennett made his international debut against France on 22 March1969, coming on as a replacement for the injured Gerald Davies - the first ever Welsh substitute in international rugby. Upon Barry John's retirement from international rugby in 1972, Bennett inherited the mystical No 10 jersey of the Welsh team and went on to play for his country on 29 occasions until 1978 when he retired from international rugby. He continued playing for his club Llanelli, with whom he wrote a piece of rugby history when they defeated the formidable All Blacks 9-3 in January 1973. The first of his 11 matches on the defining 1974 Lions tour was in the opener against Western Transvaal and he played two more matches before Alan Old's broken leg against SARF offered him the opportunity to make his Test debut against the Springboks. Bennett was a marvellous instinctive player, whose side-step and dummy could open avenues in any defence. After kicking three vital penalties to win the first Test, he just produced a piece of magic cutting through the South African defence to score a superb try in the second. Protected from the marauding Springbok wing forwards by the long pass of his scrum half Gareth Edwards, he played in all four Tests scoring a total of 27 points out of a tour total of 104. Bennett also captained the 1977 Lions tour to New Zealand where he scored a personal best of 112 points, though he never enjoyed the tour. He played for the Barbarians 20 times, yet his magic contribution to their success against the 1973 All Blacks is still well remembered.

20.8 John Peter Rhys 'JPR' Williams MBE, FRCS (Wales, Lions) - Born in Cardiff on 2 March 1949, he was a talented sportsman who made his mark in tennis before reaching the top of the game in Wales and the world. A junior tennis champion at Wimbledon in 1966, he played full back in 55 Tests for Wales between 1969 and 1981 and in eight Lions Tests. JPR, as he became known around the world, contributed to six Wales Triple Crowns and three Grand Slams during this period. He started one test for Wales (in Australia) as a flanker, but moved to full back due to injury. He captained Wales in 1969 and was one of the mainstays of the 1971 and 1974 Lions teams to New Zealand and South Africa, playing in every Test and kicking the drop goal that won the series against the All Blacks. He missed the 1977 Lions tour in order to concentrate on his medical studies. He has now retired as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and was made an MBE in 1977.

20.9 Graham Price MBE (Wales, Lions) - Born on 24 November 1951 in Moascar in Egypt, Graham Price was a member of the legendary Pontypool front row with teammates Charlie Faulkner at loosehead and Bobby Windsor at hooker, with whom he played a record 19 times for Wales. Widely regarded as the finest tighthead prop in the world during his time, he toured three times with the Lions, playing a total of 37 matches, including 12 Tests to make him the most capped Lions front row forward. He made his international debut for Wales in 1975 against France, an occasion he marked by scoring a 70-yard try in a 25-10 win. He was a member of the 1976 and 1978 Welsh Grand Slam winning teams before retiring in 1983 from international rugby, although he went on playing club rugby for Ponty until 1989. Price made his Lions debut against Wairarapa Bush on the 1977 tour of New Zealand, then played 12 matches, including all four Tests, in South Africa three years later - the last time the Lions played a four-Test series in the Republic. Price, who also toured New Zealand again in 1983, was one of 12 Welshmen in the 1980 party and played his first match of the tour against Eastern Province in a series the Lions went on to lose 3-1.

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20.10 Francis Edward 'Fran' Cotton (England, Lions) - Born in Wigan on 3 January 1947, Fran Cotton went on to become one of the world's leading props of his era, while his father and brother both made their names in the Rugby League code. During his days at Loughborough University under Jim Greenwood, Cotton understood the value of strength and fitness for an international prop and became one of the strongest and fittest men of his generation. He played for Coventry and Sale, a club he has remained associated with to this day, and made his debut for England against Scotland in 1971. He captained his country on three occasions amongst a haul of 31 caps - a record when he retired from the game in 1980. He captained the North of England to a famous win over the All Blacks in 1972 and played in the first ever international Sevens tournament which England won at Murrayfield in 1973. He played on the either side of the scrum with equal ease. In his finest series in 1974, Cotton anchored the Lions scrum from the tighthead in all four Tests against South Africa, and then played at loosehead in three Tests of the 1977 tour to New Zealand. He was selected for the 1980 tour to South Africa but developed heart problems during the trip and had to pull out before he could play in a Test. He returned in 1997 to South Africa as manager of the successful Lions team, the second to win the series in the 20th Century.

20.11 August Frederick 'Oubaas' Markötter (South Africa) (1878-1957) - Born in Haarlem in the Eastern Cape on 10 June 1878, he became one of the most influential and significant personalities in South African rugby, which he dominated for nearly half a century. His connection with the Lions is multifarious. He captained the Western Province Country team that beat Mark Morrison's Lions 13-7 at Newlands - the first non-Test side to beat a Lions team in South Africa. More significantly, as a teacher, coach and rugby thinker, he selected and crafted the playing framework that enabled South Africa to become the leading power in the world game. He had the vision of the number 8 as a loose-forward rather than the lock of the scrum as it was the fashion at the time and developed the modern play of the back row. He had an unusual eye for talent and was the first to identify in the teenage Danie Craven the great Springboks scrum half of the 1930s. Markötter established his credentials during his spell as captain of Stellenbosch in 1903, having played before for Paarl, Villagers and Wellington clubs. But it was the unbeaten season of Stellenbosch in 1903 and his uncompromising coaching methods that spread his fame far and wide. Under Markötter, the Maties, as Stellenbosch University were known, developed into the foremost talent factory in the land and by 1906 the Springbok touring squad to Britain included 11 players who had developed under him at Stellenbosch. During his days in school in Blouvlei he got his nickname of Oubaas, which stayed with him for the rest of his life. In 1893 he came to Stellenbosch University where he met and befriended Japie Kriege and Sid Harvey, at the time regulars with the Stellenbosch club. This is when he started playing rugby. He began as a full back and practiced assiduously until he was given a game against Hamilton thirds. A hard and committed tackler, he got himself into the seconds, when he changed to half back and by 1894 he was on tour with Stellenbosch first fifteen. By 1897 he was a regular with the Stellenbosch first team, but also played tennis and cricket. In 1898 he graduated and two years later he formed his legal firm Kriege & Markötter. After graduation he wrote in a letter to a friend "I definitely decided to dedicate the rest of my life to rugby football." And he did just that for the benefit of the South African and the world game.

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20.12 Paul Johannes 'Oom Polla' Roos (South Africa) (1880-1948) - Born in the Western Cape near Stellenbosch on 30 October 1880, Paul Johannes Roos made his name as part of all-conquering Stellenbosch University team, captained and coached at the time by the legendary A.F Markötter in 1903. He played for the Western Province against the 1903 Lions, the first British tour after the Boer Wars, in a significant 3-3 draw at Newlands. His overall impressive performance earned him his first cap, together with another 10 Western Province men including captain Barry Heatlie, against Mark Morrison's visitors two days later. With the first two Tests drawn (8-8 and 0-0) this was the third and decisive Test of the series - the first time the Lions played three rather than four Tests on a tour. Under the captaincy of Heatlie, playing his last match for his country, Roos and the team battled bravely to win the Test 8-0 and with it the series, the first South Africa had won since 1891. It was a turning point for the 23-year-old Roos and the South African game. When the squad for the 1906 tour to Britain was announced, Roos was elected captain. Aware of the divisions between players, generated by years of war and strife, as some of the team members had actually fought on opposite sides in the Boer Wars - Roos addressed his men with some memorable words: …'I would like to make absolutely clear at the outset we are not English-speaking or Afrikaans-speaking, but a band of happy South Africans.' The visitors, nicknamed the Springboks by Roos, played 29 matches, including four internationals - winning 26, losing to Scotland and Cardiff and drawing with England - during a tour that changed the face of international rugby for ever.

20.13 William A "Billy" Millar (South Africa) - The Gardens RFC and Western Province wing forward was born on 1 November 1883 and was a member of the 1906 Springbok tour to Britain. He made his debut for South Africa against Kent, when he scored a try, but had to wait another four years to win his first cap against the visiting 1910 Lions. Having led the Cape Colony to a satisfying 19-0 win over the visitors, he captained the Springboks in the second Test, when the British, inspired by their outstanding 'Cheery' Pillman won 8-3 to level the series. Millar retained the captaincy for the third Test when he led the magnificent fightback of the Springboks to win the decisive encounter 21-5 and secure the series. In 1912, the selectors had some doubts about Millar, who was eventually selected as the 28th and last man of the touring party. The South African Rugby Board vetoed the selectors' choice and appointed Millar as tour captain. He rewarded the trust of the Union with a tremendous series of performances when he led South Africa to its first ever Grand Slam tour in history, dispatching in order Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, after which they travelled to France, the final Test of the tour. Millar had had to overcome a severe physical disability to be able to play rugby. As a child he began walking and boxing and eventually became the walking champion of South Africa and heavyweight boxing champion of the Cape.

20.14 Benjamin Louwrens 'Bennie' Osler (South Africa) (1901-1962) - Born in Aliwal North on 23 November 1901, he made his Western Province debut against Natal in 1922 and two years later, while captain of Cape Town University, won his first cap against the 1924 Lions led by Dr. Ronald Cove-Smith - the first of his 17 consecutive appearances for South Africa. With the British forwards slowly gaining the upper hand in the titanic struggle with the Springbok pack, Osler's drop goal made the difference, giving South Africa the edge to win the crucial first Test 7-3. This win against the odds and run of play, with Osler - serviced by three different scrum halves in the four Tests - firing on all cylinders, gave South Africa the psychological advantage in a tightly fought series and established him as the top fly half in South Africa. Though he was widely regarded as a master of tactical kicking there was far more to his game than just booting the ball, as his lightning speed off the mark enabled him to make spectacular breaks and set his line moving at pace. He was described as "the greatest individual match-winner and tactical master that South African rugby has ever produced". In 1927, Osler's Hamilton club, to a large extent due to the uncanny ability of their captain to kick, dominated the Cape Town and Western Province scene and in 1929 he joined Villagers, whom in turn became Cape Town champions two years later. Osler's kicking changed the way South Africa played the game as he basically evolved his ability to land the ball anywhere on the field, not to mention his remarkable drop goal efficiency. After the shared series with New Zealand in 1928, Osler captained South Africa on their 1931/32 Grand Slam tour of the British Isles, when he was partnered by a young man with a great future, one Danie Craven, who made his international debut against Wales.

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20.15 Matthys Michael 'Boy' Louw (South Africa) (1906-1988) - Born in Wellington, in Boland, on 21 February 1906, he is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats of South African rugby, arguably one of the finest and most accomplished forwards of his time. Strong, rugged, robust and dynamic he could play with equal ease at loosehead prop, his favourite position, but also at number 8 (once), flank forward (twice) and even lock (twice). Before making his international debut against the All Blacks on 18 August 1928, Louw had already sampled the taste of international rugby when he appeared as a teenage prodigy for Western Province against Dr. Ronald Cove-Smith's Lions in the final match of their tour four years earlier. The young Paarl RFC prop was an accomplished scrummager, quite often playing alongside his younger brother Stephanus Cornelius 'Fannie', who won 11 caps mostly at tighthead. Both toured New Zealand the previous year with what was regarded as the finest Springbok side to have left South Africa on tour. Both finished their international careers after the series against Sam Walker's 1938 Lions, one of the less heralded, yet nevertheless young, ambitious and talented Lions sides. Walker had to deal with the abrasive Fannie Louw which, according to contemporary accounts, was not an easy task. Boy Louw played for Western Province Country and captained Western Province to a satisfying 21-10 win over the tourists, while Fannie led Transvaal to a 16-9 win, though in fairness Walker and his men beat Fannie Louw's Transvaal 17-9 in their second encounter after their brief sojourn in Rhodesia. The Springboks, captained by Danie Craven with the Louw brothers in the front row, Boy as vice captain, won the first two Tests, basically securing the series. In the final Test the Lions turned the tables on the confident Springboks and won 21-16, the last match for South Africa before the war. Both Louw brothers called it a day, with Boy's 18th cap breaking the previous South African record of 17 held by Bennie Osler.

20.16 Augustus Cristoffel 'Chris' Koch (South Africa) (1927-1986) - Born in Moorresburg on 21 September 1927, the try-scoring colossus made his international debut at tighthead prop - a position he made his own for the following decade - against the 1949 All Blacks in the second Test of the series played at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. He became a regular feature of the South African front row, playing in 18 matches and all five Tests of the 1951/52 Grand Slam tour of the British Isles and France. The 6ft 2in Boland prop was not only a fearsome scrummager but also a dynamic presence in the loose with a remarkable appetite for try scoring, as reflected in his tour record. On the Basil Kenyon tour of 1951 Koch started with a try against South Eastern Counties in Bournemouth, two more followed against Glasgow and Edinburgh combined, a further try in the only defeat of the tour against London Counties before finishing his scoring spree with two more against Scotland in the 44-0 rout. He featured prominently against the visiting Wallabies in 1953, when although he missed the third Test, he scored tries in the second and fourth. Koch captained Boland against the 1955 Lions and played in all four Tests, scoring a try in the 23-22 thriller at Ellis Park. He played in 14 matches of the 1953 tour to Australia and New Zealand, having captained the Springboks in a midweek game against Manawatu, when he scored a try. He also scored again on that tour against the South Canterbury/North Otago/Mid Canterbury selection. During the tour he equalled Boy Louw's South African record of 18 Test appearances in five Test series, though Salty du Rand broke the record with 21 appearances. That year Koch also played against the visiting French, who stunned the Springboks by winning the Test series, but missed the one-Test Scottish short tour of 1960. Koch retired after the 1960 Test series against Wilson Whineray's All Blacks, when he played in the first two of the internationals.

20.17 Johannes Theodorus 'Johan' Claassen (South Africa) - Born in Prince Albert on 23 September 1929, Johan Claassen won the first of his 28 caps against Robin Thompson's Lions in the famous 23-22 defeat at Ellis Park in 1955, although he had sampled the delight of defeating the visitors as captain of the Western Transvaal, who won the first match of the tour 9-6. His pace, size and athleticism as well as a very astute rugby brain made him the mainstay of the Springbok pack for six years. He played in all four Tests of the series in the back row alongside Daan Retief and Dawie Ackermann, with Butch Lochner coming in for the injured Retief in the third Test. Claassen played in all six Tests in Australia and New Zealand in 1956, winning the first two in Australia with identical scores of 9-0 and losing the series in New Zealand 3-1. He was appointed captain of South Africa for the inaugural visit of France, making their first ever venture in Africa. Before the Tests he led a strong Northern & Western Transvaal side to a narrow, yet nevertheless satisfying 19-18 win over the visitors. The French drew the first Test, very much against the run of play, to everybody's surprise. A combined Western Province and Boland side demolished France 38-8 and the Junior Springboks also won 9-5. In the final Test the French landed two drop goals and a penalty goal to win 9-5 and claim the series, the first series lost since the 1896 Lions. Although he lost the captaincy to the one Test wonder Des van Jaarsveldt, Claassen was retained for the Scottish short tour, the first ever by a Home Union, in 1960. He played in the 1960 Test series against New Zealand, which South Africa narrowly won, and played admirably throughout the third Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland, both under the captaincy of the youthful Avril Malan - at 23 the youngest captain in SA history. Claassen was re-appointed captain for the incoming Irish tour and retained the captaincy during the two-Test Australian tour and the 1962 Lions visitors, who were captained by Scotland's Arthur Smith. Having drawn the first Test he led South Africa to a magnificent fightback in the following three Tests, which they won 34-14 to secure the series 3-0.

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20.18 Keith Oxlee (South Africa) - Born in Johannesburg on 17 December 1934, Keith Oxlee won the first of his 19 selections against Wilson Whineray's All Blacks in June 1960. The 25-year-old fly half had already given the visitors a sample of his capability in the 6-6 draw with Natal, which was quite a remarkable result if one looks at the demolition the other provincial sides had suffered at the hands of Whineray's hard men. Serviced by scrum half Dick Lockyear, Oxlee had a quiet but efficient first Test against New Zealand, which South Africa won 13-0 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. He was mentioned in dispatches in the second Test, which South Africa lost 11-3, and in an 11-11 draw in the third as observers noted that Oxlee's confidence and quality grew incrementally. South Africa won the fourth Test after an immense forward struggle, one in which Johan Claassen and Avril Malan dominated the lineout with authority, enabling Oxlee and Lockyear to keep the ball in front of their forwards, making a significant contribution to the 8-3 win. Soon after the end of the fourth Test the team for the tour to Europe was announced and naturally Oxlee was on it. He played in the first Test, a gruelling battle in mud against Wales, and against Ireland and then was replaced by centre Dave Stewart in the third, a bizarre decision that puzzled the pundits. He returned for the fourth Test against Scotland and, having missed the Irish international, was recalled for the two-Test series against Australia. In the second Test he dominated the game throughout, scoring a try, three penalties and a conversion to contribute 14 of South Africa's 23 points. Oxlee played in all four Tests against Arthur Smith's Lions in 1962, scoring the only points in a 3-0 second Test victory - a penalty described by the press as the most important kick of Oxlee's career - and securing the series with his eight-point contribution in the third Test with a try, a conversion and a penalty goal in the 8-3 win. In the final Test he added 16 points more to his tally with two penalties and five conversions. Overall Oxlee scored 30 of his 88-point international total against the Lions.

20.19 Frederick Christoffel Hendrick 'Frik' du Preez (South Africa) - Arguably one of the finest South African forwards of all-time was born in Rustenburg on 28 November 1935. The 25-year-old Northern Transvaal wing forward made his international debut in a 5-0 win over England as part of the Grand Slam tour by Avril Malan's Springboks on 7 January 1961. A sample of a disappeared species among the forwards - a recognised kicker - he got his name on the scoring sheet by converting Doug Hopwood's try. He did it again against Scotland, his last appearance on the tour, when he landed two penalties for half of South Africa's winning tally of 12 points. This was his second of seven appearances at flank forward, the rest of his 31 caps being won as lock with du Preez recognised as probably the foremost scrummager and lineout enforcer of his time. His eight-Test association with the Lions began on 23 June 1962 against Arthur Smith's team as a flank forward in a 3-3l draw. He was moved to lock for the second, third and fourth Tests - a position he had experienced for the first time against the visiting Australians in 1961. South Africa won the series 3-0, though the Lions were a far better side than the scores suggested. He appeared again, as a 32-year-old lock against the 1968 Lions, when he scored a try in the first Test against Tom Kiernan's men. South Africa won the series 3-0, with the second Test a 6-6 affair. He finished his remarkable career as a member of the all-conquering South African team to Australia, when the Springboks won all three Tests in 1971.

20.20 Johannes Frederick Klopper 'Hannes' Marais (South Africa) - Born in Somerset East on 21 September 1941, Marais was educated at Gill College. During his 12-year international career he was the cornerstone of the always formidable South African pack, having played at tighthead prop in all 35 Tests between 24 August 1963, when as a 21-year-old he made his debut against Australia in a rare 11-9 defeat, and the 10-8 victory over France on 30 November 1974 when he was 33. There is a perfect symmetry to his eight-Test playing career against the Lions. He played in all four Tests against Tom Kiernan's 1968 team when the Springboks won the series 3-0, with a match drawn and captained the Springboks in 1974, when his country lost the series 3-0, with one Test drawn against Willie John McBride's Lions. That series in 1974 was the lowest point of his 11-Test captaincy, which had begun against the visiting French in 1971. After the traumas of the 1974 Lions series, he bowed out in style by leading South Africa to a 2-0 series win over the French later on that year. He played for three provincial outfits, the Western Province, North East Cape and Eastern Province, where he retired in 1974.

20.21 John Leslie Gainsford (South Africa) - Born in Germiston on 4 August 1938, John Gainsford made his international debut in April 1960 against Scotland in the Port Elizabeth Test, a part of what history recorded as the first ever overseas tour by one of the four Home Unions. The last of his then record 33 caps was against the visiting French in the third Test in July 1967. Gainsford showed remarkable promise in his first appearance for South Africa, when his breaks at centre opened up the Scottish defence on a number of occasions, but he became an established presence in the Springboks side later on that year when he was outstanding in the epic series against Wilson Whineray's men, which South Africa managed to win 2-1 with one Test drawn. He played in all four Tests during the tour of the British Isles in 1960/61, when he scored the first of his international tries against Ireland in a hard fought 8-3 win in Dublin. Gainsford played for the first time against the Arthur Smith Lions of 1962 in the drawn Test at Ellis Park, when his spectacular first half try salvaged the Test, and perhaps the series. He scored a try again in the fourth and final Test against the visitors as the Springboks won the series 3-0, with the first Test having been drawn 3-3. He was not a prolific try-scorer, yet some of his tries made the difference between success and failure, as his two tries against New Zealand in the third Test in Christchurch helped South Africa to win the Test 19-16 and prevent what could have been a whitewash. Gainsford retired at the age of 28 after the third Test against the visiting French in 1967.

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20.22 Jan Hendrick Ellis (South Africa) - Born at Brakpan on 5 January 1943, Jan Ellis won the first of his then South African record 38 caps on the 1965 tour to New Zealand, when the All Blacks won the Test series 3-1. He played against the Lions on eight occasions, four of them in 1968 when he sampled the delight of winning the series (3-0 with one match drawn) and the other four in 1974 when he experienced the pain of losing the Test series, by an identical margin. A player of outstanding skill, vision and range, Ellis scored seven international tries during the decade he became the mainstay of the Springbok back row. During this period he only played for his province South West Africa. The 38th and last cap of his international career - against New Zealand in Durban in July 1976 - came two years after he had withdrawn from international rugby in the aftermath of the tour to France in 1974.

20.23 Thomas Pleydell 'Tommy' Bedford (South Africa) - Born in Bloemfontein on 8 February 1942, Tommy Bedford won the first of his 25 caps against Australia as a flank forward on 13 July 1963. Though he appeared as a 21-year-old flank forward in six Test matches, it was the number 8 position that established him as a player of outstanding quality on the international scene. A very athletic and dynamic number 8 he formed a remarkably efficient and complementary back-row partnership with Jan Ellis and Piet Greyling. He made his debut against the Lions in an historic Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria - the first ever international in which replacements were allowed for injury, though no more than four players per team could be replaced in a match at the time. He played number 8 in all four Tests against the 1968 Lions with South Africa winning the tightly-fought series 3-0, with one drawn, when in both the first and third Tests the winning margin was only five points. The young Durban architect, who captained his provincial team Natal, also led his country three times, against Australia (twice) and Scotland on the 1969 tour to Britain and Ireland. Despite his prowess as a player and captain, it is thought that his relentless and uncompromising criticism of the apartheid system and the rugby establishment contributed to a premature end of his playing career. He retired from international rugby after the drawn Test with France in Durban in 1971.

20.24 Morné du Plessis (South Africa) - Born in Vereeniging on 21 October 1949, the same year his father Felix du Plessis captained the Springboks. The rangy and dynamic back row, who was educated at the famous rugby nursery Grey College in Bloemfontein, won the first of his 22 caps at the age of 21 against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 1971 series. He played his entire career at number 8, save for his second Test against the Lions in 1974 when he played flank forward. Du Plessis played six times against the Lions, leading his country to a hard-fought, yet well-deserved win against the 1980 visitors who were captained by Bill Beaumont. He played twice against the all-conquering Lions of 1974, both times on the losing side - a low point in his remarkably successful career, during which he found himself only four times on the losing side. The other two defeats the Springboks suffered with Du Plessis either as a player or captain were against the All Blacks in the second Test of the 1976 series and the third Test against the Lions in 1980. The playing career of this remarkably gifted and thoughtful player and leader of men was affected by the sporting boycott of South Africa - when he distinguished himself as an outspoken critic of the apartheid regime. He captained his country for the first time against France in June 1975 and retired after the Test against the visiting French in November 1980. Overall, he captained South Africa in 15 internationals, having played for Western Province, whom he also captained, during his entire career.

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