Recovering Small turns to rugby
July 12, 2001

Troubled former Springbok wing James Small has turned to his beloved game in an effort to deal with the emotional turmoil of his break-up with model Christina Storm that resulted in a failed suicide attempt.

Not only has Small joined top Cape Town club Villager, but he is also starting a career as rugby commentator for M-Net's Supersport. Small will feature for the first time as expert analyst on Sunday, when his former provincial side Western Province play against Griquas at Newlands.

The 31-year-old Small retired two years ago from the game, after 47 Tests and 20 tries for the Springboks. Small impressed Villager coach Anton Chait with is fitness and sharpness at the club's training session on Tuesday.

"I had a couple of conversations with James before he pitched up for training on Tuesday, so no, it didn't come as a surprise to me," Chait said on Thursday. He reckons Small is still capable of producing the goods on the field.

"He is in excellent shape. Now it's just a matter of getting running fitness. And we all know how competitive James is, so that shouldn't be a problem to him. The guys immediately warmed to him and he lifts those around him," enthused Chait.

The coach said it is a big bonus for Villager to have Small there. "Look, we had 38 Springboks and to have James here is fantastic. He is a big asset to the club. I think he wants to play competitively again, but will wait and see how things go at training before making a final decision."

Asked why Small suddenly decided to make a comeback, Chait said he was probably advised to become involved with the game again to get his mind off his personal problems.

"(Former Springbok) Jeremy Thomson is a good friend of James' and James is also godfather to his child. I think he probably advised James to start playing again. And we will assist James in whatever way we can," added the former WP flyhalf.

Chait says there is a good chance Small would attract the attention of overseas clubs if he can regain the magic that made him one of the best Springbok wings ever.

On Sunday the wild boy of SA rugby will be following in the footsteps of former Boks Naas Botha, Joel Stransky and Chester Williams as match analyst for SuperSport.

SuperSport's sports editor, Gert Roets, said he believed Small had a huge fan following as a player in spite of (or perhaps because of!) being a non-conformist, and would look at the game from a different perspective and provides interesting insights to enhance the enjoyment of rugby viewers.

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