“SPRINGBOKS” TEAM.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 July 1921, Page 5

“SPRINGBOKS” TEAM.

ARRIVAL IN SYDNEY. POWEBiFULLTMSUILT PLAYERS. Sydney, June 22. Sydney people are gasping over a team of South African footballers who invaded the harbor city yesterday. For individual .ize they are the most notable combination of footballers ever in this country. The eight forwards average 15 stone.

The biggest man is “Baby” Micheau, who is 2421 b. in football clothes. He is athletic looking and appears light on his feet. His closest rival is Royle Morkel, 2321 b. He has four brothers in the team, and all are almost as big. These South Africans are blond, blueeyed men for the most part, and typically Dutch-Boer. Dutch, as a matter of fact, is the language of most of them, but they speak English well, with a pleasant throaty accent. There are 30 of them —29 players and the manager, Mr. G. H. Bennett. They were hungry for a practice, and they went to the ground directly after their arrival. “Inkoma ni nar? —Nyati- He-e-.” That is their Kaffir war cry. It means “What sort of cattle are these? —Big bucks. Verily,” and it is coughed up in a series of gutturals. It is not so musical as the “ All Blacks'haka, but it is novel.

All of the five Morkel brothers are first-class players. Henry is a fast unit of the three-quarter line; Harry lends his great weight forward; Gerhard is a full-back, a fine runner and sound in defence, and also a fine goal kick. J. D. de Villiers is the other full-back, and said to be a wonderful tackler. A. Van Heerden is a very fast wing man, a champion runner and hurdler. He represented South Africa at the Antwerp games. He has the Asher habit of hurdling an opponent. W. Clarkson (Natal) is very tricky and strong, and side-stepping is a feature of his game. The halves, J. Micheau (scrum') and J. de Kock (fly), are world-famed, at the top of the South African football tree.