I found this article quite entertaining. I know we can add a lot more. I bet we will be able to add 50 more before Christmas.
Ten minutes before kick-off in Leicester’s Heineken Cup clash against Ospreys, midfielder Dan Hipkiss withdrew from the starting xv due to injury. In stepped an unknown 20 year old to make his full debut for the Tigers, Billy Twelvetrees.
A try and nine points with the boot later, and every newspaper in the country with a headline specialist was clambering to go to print. On the Monday following the match the sporting media overflowed with puns exploiting all things foliage, making it difficult to ever hope to see Twelvetrees in the spotlight again. In acting and modelling circles, the media race to christen new talent with clever names, but in rugby – as with all team sports – the nicknames come from team mates and the fans.
The names that crop up in rugby circles are not just a reflection of personal attributes; they also give great insight into the vernacular of an individual’s homeland.
South Africans have had some of the most colourful nicknames over the years, though few outside the country would appreciate the richness of such names as Windhond Muller, Vleis Visagie and Draadkar de Lange. In today’s Currie Cup the torch has been passed to the brilliantly named Windpomp van Rooyen and Ligtoring Landman.
Derick Hougaard was for many years the jewel of Loftus Versfeld, and the stands would break into a rousing bout of ‘Liefling’ every time the former Blue Bull kept the scoreboard ticking over in Pretoria. Loftus will see many more flyhalves, but that name will stick with Hougaard for life.
On the other side of the Super 14, new Force signing Andre Pretorius has been picked up for his cocked eyebrow in the lead up to his goal kicking, and some fans now refer to him as ‘Blue Steel’.
In the forwards, South Africa’s recent production line of memorably named props has churned out Toks van der Linde, Ollie le Roux, Baksteen Nel and Os du Randt among others, and these days there is barely a stadium in the world that doesn’t break into a dull roar of ‘Beeeast’ every time Durban’s favoured son is involved in a play.
Mtawarira’s French equivalent in terms of cult status would have to be ‘Homme des Cavernes’ – the Caveman. Sebastian Chabal is himself a well-publicised figure around the world, and is recognised by even those who don’t watch rugby.
But not all nicknames that originate from physical attributes are flattering. Gareth Thomas, Wales’ centurion, answers to the alias ‘Alfie’ due to an unfortunate resemblance to the hairy alien ‘Alf’ from the tv show of the same name.
Former England centre Will Greenwood is called ‘Shaggy’ after a teammate pointed out how much he looked like Scooby Doo’s best mate.
When Greg Somerville was in the New Zealand colts’ side with Xavier Rush, he was christened ‘Yoda’ – his protestations only serving to cement the name.
Though the most unflattering nickname was picked up by All Black hooker Anton Oliver, who, after a few years in the front row had ruined any chance of a modelling contract coming his way, was mercilessly taunted with ‘Grenade Face’.
Sometimes the nicknames go deeper than looks.
Justin Harrison was called a ‘plank’ by travelling opponent Austin Healy during the 2001 Lions tour to Australia, a name that has stuck with him.
As has ‘Googy’ – Aussie slang for an egg, as he was apparently swiftly identified as a bad egg early in his career.
All Black Christian Cullen had the official tag of ‘Paekakariki Express’, a gallant play on his speediness around the park, but Cullen was apparently not too sharp: behind the scenes he was reportedly referred to as ‘Beer Bottle’ as he was ’empty from the neck up’.
Perhaps the most famous nickname belongs to John Eales. A man who scrummed, dominated the lineouts, performed other pack duties and still found the time to slot Tri Nations winning penalty kicks collected the most respected of nicknames: ‘Nobody’ (though Eales has reportedly said that he cannot recall ever being called this by teammates).
One of Eales’ former colleagues, Stephen Larkham, was given the moniker ‘Bernie’ – named after the corpse from “Weekend at Bernie’s” due to his laid back nature and all-round disinterest in excitement.
The antithesis to Larkham’s lethargic demeanour was Brian Lima, Samao’s bone-shuddering midfield tackler who, unfortunately for his opponents, managed to stretch his career over the span of five world cups. To find out whether or not he deserved his nickname, you only need to speak to the aforementioned Derick Hougaard. During a 2003 world cup group-stage match Hougaard was the unlucky recipient of a rather lofty offering from Joost van der Westhuizen in broken play. Hougaard remembers stretching his arms skyward to catch the pass, seeing “The Chiropractor” out of the corner of his eye, and probably little else.
The international stars’ nicknames remind us that those who play at the top level are no different from any group of guys that gets together every Saturday to play the game, and that being the best in their respective countries doesn’t shield them from the banter that exists in all changerooms around the world; the greatest afterthought of team sports.
And as for Twelvetrees?
Well he is now known as ’36’ on the training paddock at Leicester. He hadn’t been there for long before skipper Geordon Murphy gave him the nickname. When Twelvetrees asked after the origins of the name, Murphy replied (in his Irish drawl): “Well, in Ireland, twelve threes are thirty-six.”
from Rugby365
babelas is erger as periods sou ek se, bar ne
jy daai foto op geslin gesien
29 @ Saint
Is jy The Saint wat al die jare Saint was op keo??? Van Ermelo?
Jean Deysel se bynaam op koshuis was ‘Wolscooter’, en Walter Venter was ‘Karavaan’
superbul @ 31
Ja het gaan kyk na die foto. Ek kyk nou na die 1955 Bok span wat teen die Britse Leeus gespeel het.
Ek wou eintlik gesien het hoe het Tom van Vollenhoven gelyk in sy jiong dae, toe sien ek daar is Salty du Randt. Nog ‘n gooie bynaam. (As hy engels was was dit seker “Soutie”)
1932 Outside centre SA v Scotland, Ponie vd westhuizen.
Cheers almal.
Het kuier mense by die huis, so beter my g@t huis toe kry voor hulle al my dop uitsuip!
36
crisis management, run forest run
Nee hel sal skade wees as jy te laat daar kom
Supa dis hy daai, hy se hy is terug met n bang.
Sal seker weer dinge na normaal kry volgende jaar. Dis nou af seisoen , selfs vir die meeste bloggers
Winston, you have been APPROVED.
Kindly complete your Profile by adding REAL NAME & SURNAME and start blogging!
Ja Supa jou eenogige bloubul bliksem, dis ek, terug om weer ‘n bietjie balans terug te bring. BTW, ek weet ek se dit nou al vir jare, maar ek het ‘n goeie feeling oor die WP/Stormers die jaar…
Come on Winston , i am waiting to find out if you are the Winston of a local Bush Pub.
40
O flok julle is darem maar bittereinders, hoeveel keer moet ons julle gatte skop voordat julle ons reg aanspreek. Alle woorde met Blou en Bul begin met n hoofletter vir julle, verstaan. 😆
“42” Bittereinders verseker…anders as sekere spanne wie se ondersteuners Griekwas toe hardloop as dinge skeefloop…
Nou wie op aarde sal Griekwas toe hol behalwe om sy kop in die groot Kimberley gat te druk?
Moet seker n Boelander wees?
Kom ons se maar net dat die huidige GWK Stadion dubbel die hoeveelheid toeskouers gehad het in 2002 as wat huidiglik die geval is.
Goeie jaar 2002…
46
jy het my , ek is nou nie seker van wie jy praat nie.
Morning all.
39 – GBS, He is a good oke. Think a Shark supporter like me 😀 More the better 😆
All time S12/S14 winning percentage:
Sharks: 47.1% (4 Bottom 3 finishes)
Stormers: 45.8% (Never finished in Bottom 3)
Bulls: 41.8% (5 Bottom 3 Finishes)
Lions: 26.8% (9 Bottom 3 Finishes) (5 as Cats)
Cheetahs: 23.1% (7 Bottom 3 Finishes) (5 as Cats)
Dit laat ‘n mens dink ne?
49 – Saint, Yip looking at that it makes for interesting reading. Sharks on top then, but our cupboard is bare of that silver ware. Bulls though have plenty of that silver in their cupboard.
SA is awesome hey. Opened my patio door this morning to find all the female Impala in my garden with two brand spanking new ones. We are really blessed in this country to have such great wild life on our doorstep.
Hi Puma
It sounds like you stay in a nice place. Regarding the Sharks, they are underachievers, we should have had at least 2 Super cups by now.
Old Griqua @ 25
And then there was ‘Speedy’ Sweeney, of course 🙂 with Joggie, Mannetjies, Kierietjies, Blondie in those…..awesome Griqua team that was.
Nice to see you popping in here now and then.
I am also in and out mostly, just got back ahead of the heat, at the A/C shop, waiting for my old galoppy to get fixed, can’t drive around in this heat (48C yesterday) without aircon.
Snoek, Yip I do live in a lovely place here. A lot of wild life here that you would never expect to see.
We should have had that 2007 S14. That to this day puts a ache in my heart. Just to have kicked it out that all was needed. Ag, it hurts still.
Maybe this year that I am not expecting much our team will produce the goods. Hoping. I have supported them even when they won nothing ever. From 1981. So will still support them no matter what. They are my team forever.
53 – Piet, 48 without aircon!!!! Boet that is a killer. Drink plenty water boet. Dehydration is not good.
I hate that kinda heat just far too hot for me. We had heat like that when I worked in Saudi Arabia. Everyday from about May until end of August. From 44 to 50 even. They would never say it was 50 as when it hit that temp work had to stop. So temp would never show more than 49….hehehe but that was nonsense it went over that many times.
Okay have to go out for a bit.
Catch up later.
How about Long George Devenish, for a scrummie!
Played for Tvl and the Bokke at the beginning of the century.
And then there are:
Balie Wahl (WP)
Chiliboy Ralapelle ((Bulls)
Piston van Wyk ( ” )
Bees Roux ( Bulls)
Chum Ochse (WP)
Fairie Heatly ( ” )
Tjol Lategan ( ” )
Agie Koch ( ” )
Bossie Clarke ( ” )
Chappie (Niel) Burger ( ” )
Kulu Ferreira (NOFS)
Ginger Clarke (Tvl)
Pinkie Daneel ( ” )
Baksteen Nel (Pumas/Tvl)
Kapstok van Greunen ( ” )
Chers Puma, good to see Winston here….
Koffie Hofmeyer (WP)
Boomslang Coetzee (WP/Natal)
Saag Jonker (SWD capt)
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