From Red and Black . . . to Green and Gold THEIR games range from rugby, soccer and cricket to sky-

diving and spear-fishing, from tennis and athletics to golf, power

-boating, rowing and show-jumping.

They are the Old Dalian Springboks, “Proteas” and other

South African internationals. Some have been SA champions.

Since 1896 more than 60 Old Dalians have represented South

Africa and other countries at sport. Most of their names appear

on an honours board in the Old Dalian Assembly Hall.

The first was 1896 rugby Springbok Walter Taberer. The lat-

est are loose forward Keegan Daniel, leftwing Bjorn Basson and

hooker Bandise Maku, who toured Britain with the Boks last

year. Maku was flown in as a replacement and leftwing Basson

returned home injured and then for tests for a banned substance.

He has since been exonerated. All three are in the Bok training

squad chosen before the 2011 World Cup.

The most celebrated Old Dalian international in recent years

has been pace bowler Makhaya Ntini, the first black African to

represent SA at cricket.

He retired this year from international cricket after a distin-

guished career in which he took 390 wickets at an average of

28.8 in Tests and 266 ODI wickets at an average of 24.6.

His best figures were 7 for 37 Test wickets and 6 for 22 ODI

wickets. Makhaya is still performing well for the Warriors and

serving the cause of cricket.

Old Dalian SA rugby Sevens players have included Gcobani

Bobo, who captained the Sevens in 2007 and was a 15-a-side

Bok in 2003-04, Lubalalo (Terror) Mthembu, Luke Smith, To-

bela Mdaka, Nick Eyre, Odinga Sivundla, Gareth Krause, Logan

Basson (brother of Bjorn ) and Shannon Rick. Shane Spring was

selected for the SA Sevens in 2009 but withdrew after a spider

bite was considered limb threatening. Bobo is now playing pro-

fessional rugby in England.

In the last two decades other Old Dalian internationals have

included cricketers Monde Zondeki (2002 and 2005), Steve

Palframan (1993) and former Dale Juniors Dave Callaghan and

Meyrick Pringle. Steven Hall played rugby for France in 1988.

Wheelchair shot-putter Chejon Fernandes won a bronze medal

for Greece in the Beijing Paralymic Games.

Exchange student (Dale vice-captain) and later All Black Greg

Somerville has retired from international rugby and has been

playing for the new Super 15 franchise, the Melbourne Rebels.

Apart from Ntini, the most celebrated Old Dalian sportsmen

have been cricketer Sibley Snooke, double Springbok Buster

Farrer (cricket and hockey), rugby heroes HO de Villiers and CB

Jennings, cricketer Hylton Ackerman and tennis internationals

Pat Spence and the Blackburn brothers.

De Villiers, one of the SA’s greatest fullbacks, played against

France in 1967, toured that country in 1968 and went on the ill-

fated demo tour of Britain in 1969-70 before a knee injury ended

his international career.

Jennings, who played for Border while still at Dale, was the

first man to replace the famous Boy Louw in the front row in a

Test match on the SA tour of New Zealand in 1937.

Taberer, the first Old Dalian rugby Springbok, played in the

second Test against the British touring team in 1896. Bennett

(Pee Wee) Howe played two Tests in the 1956 Bok tour "Down Under"

and Mike Jennings (son of CB), toured Britain in 1969-70. This was then

only the second time in SA rugby history that a father and son had won

international honours.

Buster Farrer, the first Old Dalian double Springbok, played in six

cricket Tests for SA in 1962-64 against New Zealand and hockey against

Australia and Rhodesia in 1971-72. In 1990 he played squash in England

for an over-fifties South African team.

Two Dalians, Derek Fowler (swimming) and Robert Bluett (surf-

lifesaving), represented their countries while still at school.

Sibley and Stanley Snooke were the first brothers to play together for

South Africa in a cricket Test – against England in 1907. Sibley led SA

to victory in the 1909-10 series against England. He played in 25 Tests,

scoring more than 1 000 runs and taking 35 wickets, toured England

three times and topped the batting averages on the 1907 tour.

Still intact is his record of taking 12 wickets for 127 runs in a Test –

against England at the old Wanderers in 1909.

Sibley scored a Test century when he toured Australia in 1910-11 and

was still playing Test cricket against England in 1922-23. He managed

the 1935 SA tour of England.

Hylton Ackerman, chosen to tour Australia with the SA team in 1971

-72, had his hopes dashed when the tour was called off for political

reasons. He scored a century in a substitute international match against

Australia. After a distinguished playing career he became a provincial

and national coach, administrator and TV and radio commentator.

Stanley Bayly and Lex Giddy, both Old Dalian national presidents

(1925 and 1927), won the SA doubles tennis title together when they

were younger. Giddy won the singles championship five years in a row.

Douglas and Cecil Blackbeard won several national men’s doubles

titles in the 1920s as partners and represented SA at the Olympic

Games and in the Davis Cup.

Pat Spence won several singles and doubles titles in Britain in the

twenties and the Wimbledon mixed doubles in 1928. He was the dou-

bles champion of France and represented SA at the Olympic Games and

from 1924 to 1931 in the Davis Cup.

Another SA tennis champion was Marchant Davies, after whom the

Eastern Province tennis stadium was named. He partnered Spence to

win the SA men’s doubles championship in 1921 and won the title

again with another partner.

A Springbok cricketer, Davis played for Border against the MCC

while still at school in 1913-14 and in two Tests for SA against the

Australian Forces team in 1919.

David Poultney won the SA singles bowls championship. Jerry Cy-

rus, at age 32, 34 and 36, ran the fastest quarter-mile as a world cham-

pion three times.

Angling Springboks included Mike Sokolich and Mike Pautz, also a

world champion in his age group. In those years Ben Ryan was a lone

Old Dalian international golfer.

* Who are the next OD internationals? Can Dale provide another

Makhaya Ntini?

* We regret that for space reasons we have not been able to list all

Dale sporting internationals.

GREG SOMER-VILLE . . . from Dale to All Blacks

CAREER HIGHLIGHT . . . cricket hero Makhaya Ntini kisses the hallowed turf at Lords ground, London, after taking his tenth wicket in the second Test against England in 2000

*Picture: AP, with assistance from the Daily Dispatch

FLASHBACK to the 1981 Old Dalian Reunion attended by 15 Dale sporting internationals. Back row (from left): Mike Pautz, Rod Cummings, Buster Farrer and Hylton Ackerman. Middle: Terry Boucher, Trevor Gee, Des Torr, Gary Radue, Brian Mclaren and Mike Sokolich. Front: Anthony Wood, Pee Wee Howe, Pat Spence, CB Jennings and HO de Villiers.

KEEGAN DANIEL . . . in action for the Sharks

BANDISE MAKU . . . from Bulls to Lions

STEVE PALFRAMAN . . from Border to Springboks

SIBLEY SNOOKE . . . record holding

cricketer

GCOBANI BOBO . . . South African Sevens captain

LUKE SMITH . . . a Sevens Springbok

CHEJON FERNANDES .. paraplegic

for Greece

FATHER AND SON . . . CB and MIKE JENNINGS

12 13

BJORN BASSON . . . in action for Griquas. He is now with the Bulls.