- Ask Steven
The Springboks' back-ups
John GriffithsOctober 1, 2013
Were any reserves named for the 1951-2 Springboks tour of Britain, Ireland and France? If so, please name them. MJDV, South Africa
The trials for the 1951-52 Springbok tour to Europe were staged at Newlands during the week of July 7 to July 14 in 1951. All told nearly 130 players were invited to attend, though as many as 21 of the final tour party took part in the first trial.
A reserve list was never officially released. Tour skipper Basil Kenyon sustained a serious eye injury early in the tour, but despite having to retire from the playing side of the visit he remained in Britain and no replacement player was called over.
The late "Ace" Parker, one of South Africa's most reliable rugby journalists of the post-war era, revealed that a "secret" roster of standby players existed and comprised four backs and three forwards.
Parker's list was: J J Kotze (Transvaal) covering the wing position; W Brune (Griqualand) West covering the centre; A I Kirkpatrick (Griqualand West) at fly-half; J J Wahl (Western Province) covering scrum-half; A J J du Plooy (Eastern Province) at prop; W Koch (Boland) for the second-row, and J Furter (Orange Free State) on standby for the back-row.
"Balie" Wahl was already a Springbok, having appeared in a Test against Fred Allen's 1949 All Blacks. Ian Kirkpatrick was later a distinguished Springbok winning 13 caps and making 43 appearances for the side in an international career (mainly as a centre) that ran from 1953 to 1961, when he toured Britain, Ireland and France with Avril Malan's Fifth Springboks.
The only other player on the list who later won Springbok honours was Amos du Plooy. He captained Eastern Province to a 20-0 win against Robin Thompson's Lions in 1955 and on the strength of his display that day was selected to prop against the tourists in the first Test at Ellis Park three weeks later.
John Griffiths is a widely respected rugby historian and is the author of several sports books, a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and co-author of the IRB International Rugby Yearbook. He has provided insight for Scrum.com since 1999.
