Оңтүстік Африкада Регби Лигасының Тарихы

The History of rugby league in South Africa goes back as far as the 1950s. The 1990s brought about the establishment of the South African Rugby Football League to promote amateur rugby league.

In 1953, a committee was formed, headed by Mr. Ludwig Japhet, for the sole purpose of promotion of rugby league. No doubt, the decision to form such a committee was the lure of potential sponsorship and gate takings that playing rugby league in new areas or against other nations would undoubtedly bring to the game. Mr. Ludwig Japhet held a meeting with Mr. Bill Fallowfield in December of that year to discuss the possibilities of rugby league promotion in which South Africa was discussed. The labours of the promotional committee bore its fruit in South Africa in 1957 with the British and French teams staging a series of exhibition matches for the promotion of the game. Unfortunately neither the British nor the French took the games seriously, which resulted in light and effortless tackling; the lack of the biff and barge, which the South Africans where so accustom to, left them unsatisfied with what they had seen. After playing the two matches in Benoni and Durban a third was scheduled for East London, although this never did take place.

The idea of rugby league in South Africa faded with the death of Mr. Ludwig Japhet after the experimental tour, only to be brought back to life with the formation of two almost indistinguishable but totally separate rugby league organisations: The National Rugby League (NRL), formed by one Mr. Norman Lacey and Rugby League South Africa (RLSA) instigated by a Mr Maurice Smith with the formation of a caretaker committee of which Messrs John B. Weill and Irwin Benson where involved and subsequently handed the responsibility of the fledgling organisation. Both leagues saw themselves as the governing body of rugby league in South Africa and thus both had plans to commence competitions in the summer of 1962. Eventually both organisations came to be actively reporting to the British RFL, as well as receiving promotional material which fostered an intense rivalry between the two factions. Unfortunately for rugby league in South Africa, the two organisations could not settle their differences and each went a head with their respectful competitions; so was born rugby league in South Africa, under confusing and hostile circumstances. In that year, both organisations sought touring teams from the UK. The National rugby league organised to have Wakefield Trinity compete against a combined XIII, however as the score lines told, this was perhaps too stiff for the South Africans to handle, losing 59–3. Rugby League South Africa attempted to counteract any of the difficulties its identical twin had in the face of stiff English competition and hired former Wigan, Easts and Australian coach, Dave Brown, for three months. The Lions defeated the South Africans rugby league representative side convincingly. Fortunately, not all was lost as the British later admitting that the South Africans where skilled, only lacking in tactics, specifically defensive, which had lost them the game.

In December 1988 when Widnes and Wigan were both at the top of the Rugby League tree in England, a chance meeting took place in the South African Irish pub called Fibber Maghees next to Kyalami Motor Racing circuit. Dave Southern from Widnes and Tony Barker from Wigan were the individuals the conversation went something like this DS to TB I contacted Harry Edgar from Open Rugby about a World Development Officer who could help establish League in SA, he wrote back to say that no such position existed and even if it did SA would not be welcome due to the current political regime in power Apartheid basically I felt that I was being penalised for being in the country and trying to promote my game. TB to DS so what did you do? Well I wrote a masterpiece to the RFL Chairman at Chappeltown Rd Mr David Oxley asking him if the time was not right now for the development of League in SA given the IRB sanction of a world 15 to play against the Springboks at Ellis Park Mr Oxley replied " sport and politics are inextricably mixed, and to ignore one without the other is simply to bury ones head in the sand " So what are you going to do now Dave? Well not quite sure at the moment. TB Why don't we do it ourselves? What? Start League in SA? DS Yeah I'm up for that how should we start? TB I'm actually going to the UK for a month when I'm back why don't we get together and talk? (This sounded like a cooling off period for me DS to forget about the idea as far as I could tell) Tony gave me his tel number and I duly phoned him in Jan 89 as arranged. Tony needed to be prompted as to who I was and what we had agreed but we set a meeting up to discuss. I was playing RU for Old Edwardians (Old Eds) at the time in a suburb of Jhb called Houghton. My connections were good with the coaching staff and as luck would have it one of the coaches Gary Lewis had a brother in law called Ray Mordt the ex Wigan winger from the 80's. We decided to place an advertisement in the Saturday Star looking for people interested in playing, officiating supporting or watching RL to call our two listed respective telephone numbers. The phone at my place of residence was running hot on the Sunday morning we collected in excess of 40 names of interested parties. A reporter called Rodney Hartman from the Star followed up on the advert and wrote a good article in the paper talking about our plans and desires for RL. He assisted us in advertising our meeting of interested persons at what was to become the inaugural meeting at Old Eds. The meeting saw Dave Southern address the audience of some 60 100 people in a Martin Luther King sort of a way with his I have a dream vision for RL. Ray Mordt attended but was reluctant to nail his colours to the mast since he was unsure of what lay ahead of him perhaps (he went on to become coach of Gauteng Lions). The meeting was met with a positive response with Trevor Lake (Born in Rhodesia was set to play for the Junior Springboks, ex Wigan player) being on hand from the press appeal to add a mature and steady hand to the proceedings he didn't talk formally at the launch other than to say that he would be prepared to support us where he could." After a series of training sessions and friendly games played amongst loose combinations of players at Old Eds and Jeppe Old Boys Rugby Club, The big breakthrough came when Trevor Lake introduced the group to Peter Cook the cricket enthusiast who was involved in the introduction of Kerry Packer style Day Night cricket to SA. With Peter on board we soon had an Inaugural Luncheon arranged as a launching platform for the game and a fund raiser at the same time. Around the same time Ray Mordt introduce the original Committee which included Trevor Lake, Dave Southern, John Callaghan, Peter Cook and Trevor Lake to the Ex N. Transvaal and Pretoria Harlequins player Jacey Strauss. Numerous meeting took place with Strauss and before too long he was brought onto the Board. Club formation in the first year or two was left to Dave Southern who, as well as forming the original team Johannesburg Nomads (later to be known as the Warriors), also conducted coaching clinics at schools such as Witkoppen, Paradise Bend and Leukop Prison School all in the Northern suburbs of Johannesburg. John Callaghan used his business contacts to get us into SAMCOR a motor car production company in Pretoria, from this base we would bring in children from the nearby Mamelodi township. Progress was rapid and very encouraging with hundreds of children turning up on Saturday morning coaching clinics.

SARL steadily became more unstable as Ockie disassociated himself with the board and their membership of the RLIF was suspended. As the Super League and ARL civil war continued in Australia, consuming large sums of money that otherwise would have been used for international development, South Africa was left abandoned like many start up leagues of the time. The South African Rugby League came close to total collapse; the board however regrouped and contact resumed with the RFL. Following the regrouping, the board held a fully democratic annual general meeting. Contact resumed with the RFL, through Maurice Lindsay who supported SARLs ambitions to enter the 1996 student world cup, which SARL had planned to use as a vehicle for reestablishing the ailing SARL and its clubs to its former more stable self. SARL went on to win the bowl final as opposed to the cup final of the student world cup; a semi good result. Through some intense lobbying by SARL and constant support from the RFL's Maurice Lindsay, South Africa was further awarded the Student World Cup for 1998. Further to SARL's rebuilding effort, Barry Haslam accepted an invitation to the international board meeting in Auckland of that year. Haslam gave his presentation and proposal for SARL to be invited back as a member of the RLIF. Maurice Lindsay subsequently announced that by a unanimous vote, SARL had been welcomed back to the RLIF.

SARL put together a nines side, coached by ex Springbok Tiaan Strauss and supplemented by South African players that had been strengthened through scholarships to Australian Super League clubs. The SARL nines beat France, Japan, the Cook Islands, drew to Tonga and lost to GB and Fiji. The Australian Press labelled the SARL nines side as 'the surprise package' of the tournament and dramatically improved. Bill Baguley, Chairman of Germiston and board member, pioneered the "Athlone" model. SARL's efforts in the black townships over the years have largely failed due to little infrastructure and support. Schools, however have been encouraging since parents and teachers are great resources and your still establishing the game at a grass roots level. Athlone had developed into an established league playing school, of whom most of its students were black. Athlone went on to regularly play and beat white teams without; one of the few sustained achievements of the 1990s SARL board. The team that left South African shores to tour Australia were studded with ex Springbok, union players. Some of the Union stars of the 60's, played Rugby League but did not adapt fast enough to challenge any rugby team on their tour to Australia. There they suffered two defeats but very little was said about this team which learned by their mistakes. to score a narrow win of 7–4 in the land of the White Cloud! The team was known as the "Springbok Rugby League side", the first and very last to wear a Springbok on their blazers. Back biome, the South Africans faced the unforeseen! Virtually all the municipalities were instructed not to make plying fields available to Rugby League in South Africa. Players were scorned as "Traitors" and were out cast for selling their first birth right, namely union or amateur rugby. The game that was loved by dedicated rugby stars was a dying one. But the fighting spirit of
a young rugby player (Jan Prinsloo, also called "Jan Das", from Pretoria Rugby League Club, took up the gloves with the South African Rugby Board and in particular with the President of the Union, Dr. Danie Craven. Dr. Danie who had sympathy with League said that although he had tried to have the league players reinstated, there was nothing he could do as it was in the hands of the International Rugby Board. Those letters and correspondence is available and in the position of Prinsloo who said that rugby league will one day become a giant amongst rugby codes in the world and until then he will not rest to see this happened. The battle went on for some time and many others tried to revive the sport. The sand was running out and many of the players became disillusioned. The years went by. In the background stood the very same young man. Prinsloo, who has now become an old man, always wearing his Springbok Rugby League blazer. After 60 years of dedicated service to League, he was heralded as a Legend in South Africa's League Hall of fame and was bestowed for a second time the honor as a Legend when he received Rugby League's Highest accolade the Rhino Blaser, the only Rugby League player to be awarded double Legend status. What happened is history and a chapter that needs not to be forgotten or ignored or scraped. The history of the game forms the backbone of Rugby League in South Africa.