Ruben Kruger passed away after a long fight with brain cancer. More details will follow. Ruben Kruger was only 39 years old.
Rubens Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Ruben-Kruger-in-his-fight-against-Brain-Cancer/129074940190
Opening message on his Facebook page.
“Your love and support overwhelm us as family. YOUR prayers and thoughts carry us through each day. Through the grace of God we will finish the race which is our lives and we will be victorious. We treasure and value each day and each moment and EACH new friend”
Former Springbok and Bulls flank, Ruben Kruger, has died after battling cancer for a number of years. He was 39.
Ruben Jacobus Kruger was born March 30, 1970 in Vrede.
Kruger played for the Springboks between 1993 and 1999.
In 1995, he played in the Rugby World Cup. During this tournament, he made five starts, and scored one try, in the controversial semi-final against France in Durban.
Years later, he admitted that the try was not legitimate. He also played in the 1999 World Cup.
At Provincial level, Ruben Kruger represented the Blue Bulls.
In 1995 Ruben Kruger was named South African Rugby Football Union’s player of the year.
At the end of his rugby career, he became a camera salesman. He owns a Minolta franchise in Pretoria.
He was portrayed in Invictus, a film about Nelson Mandela and the 1995 Springboks, by Grant Roberts.
Here’s a little video, to remind you what Ruben was part of….
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVxmC7yLfYQ[/youtube]
Ruben Kruger
Full names: Ruben Jacobus
Date of birth: 30 Mar 1970
Place of birth: Vrede, South Africa
School: Grey College, Bloemfontein
Debut test province: Cheetahs
Physical: 1.87m, 101.6kg
Current age: 39
Test summary: Tests: 36 Tries: 7
First Test: 6 Nov 1993 Age:23 Flank against Argentina at Ferrocarril-Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
Last Test: 4 Nov 1999 Age:29 Reserve against New Zealand at Millenium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff
This is devastating news.
My condolences go out to his family.
Ruben should never be forgotten.
I sincerely hope that SA rugby honours him in some meaningfull way in the future.
May this great man rest in peace.
Oohh what a shame for him & his poor family !
In heaven he is again healthy & gets to play rugby every single day with the heros of his youth 🙂
RIP Ruben.
So jonk, sterkte vir al sy familie, ek is seker hy is op ‘n beter plek.
Nag ou grote! Weet jys op ‘n beter plek! Sterkte aan die familie!
Ruben vir altyd sal jy in my hart die een wees wat verdien het om Springbok Kaptein te wees met die 1995 Wereldbeker. Jou pyn en lyding is nou oor. Rus in Vrede.
Aan jou jong familie sterkte , julle is in ons gedagtes en gebede. Volg net julle goeie voorbeeld, ons vriende sal daar wees vir julle, hou net jul geloof.
sad news indeed
my condolences to his family
Ek MOES inderhaas my password soek en inlog vir hierdie tragiese berig.
Innige simpatie aan Lisa en die twee kleintjies.
Dit was n lang stryd, maar nou kan die ou grote gaan rus.
Op sy stil en beskeie manier was hy n legende in sy tyd, een van die skoonste rugbysplers wat ek ek ooit die voorreg gehad het om te sien speel en n paar keer persoonlik te ontmoet.
(Ruben, Wium Basson en Jaco van der Wethuizen is destyds saam na daai geloofsgeneesheer in Nigeria. Wium is twee maande na die besoek oorlede.)
Sien julle ander RT’s later, op n stadige konneksie hier met my notebook wat ek nog onder die knie moet kry.
Terloops, Superbul, ek sien die Maties speel nie in die Kaap nie….ek het my nogal klaargemaak om Maandag deur te ry vir die wedstryd.
Ashley, sien jou hopelik binnekort.
Land DV Sondagoggend vroeg in Kaapstad.
O,en lekker verjaar Superbul…..n jaar gelede het ons twee nog saam dit gevier.
Die tyd loop darem….
Geluk met jou verjaarsdag Superbul, mag dit ‘n goeie persoonlike jaar vir jou wees, en ‘n slegte rugby jaar. 😆
Happy happy superBul !!!
snoek @ 10
jy bedoel seker …. ñ slegte BUL rugby jaar?
@ 9 PIETMAN !!!!!
Email my asb, ek het jou email verloor.
Helloooooooooooo
As ek dit reg het verjaar SuperBul eers Vrydag… dis nou more…
Pieta, verjaar jy ok??
A great Freestater, a great Springbok! RIP!
Aan die familie Kruger, ons wense is met julle. Ons innige medelye en ons wens julle sterkte toe in hierdie baie hartseer tyd.
Ek onthou Ruben as ‘n tipiese “Fetcher” flank, ‘n duiwel op die los bal, ‘n harde en eerlike rugbyspeler. Hy sou in enige rugby tydsvlak presteer het, selfs in vandag se era. As daar een ou is wat die Springboktrui verdien het, was dit Ruben. Wat ‘n rugbyspeler, wat ‘n Bloubul… wat ‘n nederige mens.
Ek het Ruben nie geken nie, ook nie sy familie nie, maar my hart is vandag seer!!
Lekker slaap ou grote, jou lyding was lank!
Condolences to his friends and family ! A true gentlemen and Rugby Great !!!
RIP Ruben you were a player that thrilled the entire Bok rugby public, having met you was an absolute honour
no doubt the lord will be with your family in their time of need, but they will find strength in knowing you are in heaven safe and sound
I remember ruben as a younster playing Craven week Rugby for OVS then. Looked like a High School boytjie amongst Junor School boys. Awesome player he was indeed.
Very sad news. I’m glad his pain is over now.
Condolences to his young family.
RIP Ruben…………
Totsiens ou tjom, al het ek jou nooit persoonlik ontmoet nie, maar jy het gelyk na een van daardie rugbyspelers wat se voete vas op die grond gebly het, ondanks al die roem van die professionele era en geld wat daarmee saamgaan. Een van die ouens wat ‘n mens graag saam op ‘n braaivleis vuur wil sit en lekker gesels oor rugby [Bokke en Bulle natuurlik! ;-)], maar ook die dieper en belangriker dinge van die lewe, soos geloof in Jesus Christus, gesin en familie.
Sterkte ook vir Ruben se vrou, kinders en familie, mag julle troos vind in die wete dat ou Ruben nie net gebore is in ‘Vrede’ nie, maar nou heengegaan het na ‘n hemelse Vrede, waar hy nou waarlik kan rus, in vrede.
20: “saam op ‘n braaivleis vuur” moet “saam OM ‘n braaivleis vuur” wees.
Oppie vuur gaan darem te seer wees, en ons is nie hindoes nie !
Ou Ruben was nog een van daai “no-nonsense” harde manne.
Rus in Vrede Ruben Kruger
Een van my groot helde.
Only 39, just too soon.
What a list of achivements though!
Yes Carol – I googled him this morning. Was very young when he played but can see he was one of the all time greats.
So sad to loose such a great man after only 39 years of life. RIP Ruben.
RIP Ruben Kruger, the man the LEGEND, thanks for the memories. Must be one of the hardest sons of SA rugby to ever wear the Green and Gold.
Sterkte vir jou gesin, familie en vriende.
Very sad to hear this news. Was one of our grestest Springboks. For me he was our best 7 ever.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
RIP Ruben you will be remembered forever.
It’s a sad day. Growing up Ruben, Joost and Adriaan Richter were the guys I looked up to they were my heroes. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, who lost a larger than life person.
Kan dit nie glo nie. Innige meegevoel aan familie en vriende.
43. by Brenden Nel | 28 January 2010 (08:43)
There’s a famous urban legend told around Loftus Versfeld about Springbok Ruben Kruger.
Apparently in the deep dark days of Blue Bulls rugby, late in the 1990s where things were going wrong and there were fewer wins than Springboks in a season, Kruger stood firm in front of his team to take the team-talk.
As the side formed a circle, waiting for some words of wisdom to lead them out of the doldrums, Kruger leant in alongside then vice-captain Jacques Olivier, took a deep breath and said: “Jacques and I will play our hearts out today, its up to you to decide what you do.”
With that Kruger got up, turned and walked away, leaving the team dumfounded, confused and searching for inward inspiration.
It was a moment where Kruger did what he did best, led from the front. No big speeches, no fanfare. Just get down and do the work. His teammates respected that.
But that was the Ruben Kruger that I knew, focused, no nonsense and a quiet giant of a man who lived his life to the fullest.
I remember first seeing him as a glimmer on a television screen years ago when he led his Grey College side out for a schools match. For the life of me, I can’t recall the opposition or much about the game, but I do recall that Kruger, all of 18 years old, looked like a grizzled veteran on the rugby field, a man far beyond his youthful looks and one who made an indelible impression on me to keep an eye on.
As the years went on, and on my move to Pretoria I slowly got to know Ruben, or “Ben” as he was more affectionately known, and formed an exceptional working relationship and friendship with the man.
On the field, as a captain, when he spoke, he commanded respect, led from the front and was a giant of the game in more ways than one.
His 36 test matches are a testament to his greatness as a player, from his debut against Argentina in 1993, to his last game in 1999 against Wales, he was a pillar of strength in the Green and Gold jersey. I remember asking him during the 1999 World Cup, where a younger, stronger Andre Venter was selected ahead of him if he wasn’t disappointed. Ruben gave a trademark, wry smile and replied: “I’d tear my arm off if it meant I could be here in the squad, in any position.”
Kruger will be well remembered for his contribution in the 1995 World Cup team, where he was an integral part of the side that swept South Africa to the William Webb Ellis trophy at Ellis Park, scoring a try in the final which was never allowed. Kruger was also the crucial try-scorer in the semifinal against France at Kings’ Park in Durban. He was named that year as South Africa’s Player of the year. At Loftus in 2000, where the Blue Bulls were playing a Currie Cup fixture against the Falcons, or Valke as they are now known, we never realised the seriousness of the situation when he was carried off the field. It was with shock afterwards we heard that it was a brain tumour.
“I tackled the guy and couldn’t remember anything else,” Ruben said of the October 15 2000 incident. “It was a hard knock, not a big one, but the lights went out and I thought that was strange because they’d gone out in the previous match. I’d had big knocks before without the lights going out.”
“They took me for a scan and found a second-grade tumour in my head. I knew it was all over. You play one day, then the next day you are finished. I’ve been playing since I was six years old and I don’t understand Saturdays without rugby.
“Rugby is a great game but it’s not so nice that I want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. Giving up is a small price to pay. I’ve had a nice innings but I was in a state of shock for four or five days. Some people phoned me up and they seemed to think I was already dead! I said: “No, it’s not going to kill me. I’m still alive, still kicking”.
I also remember travelling with Ruben and his wife Lize to London in 2000 for a golf day arranged in his honour. Along in the trip was FA Meiring and Schutte Bekker and their wives, two of Ruben’s closest rugby friends. I saw a softer side of the man, a family man who would later become a father, and a kind-hearted giant who touched everyone he met.
On one of those nights, I accompanied Ruben and Schutte to a London bar, to meet Springbok supporters – ex-pats working their gap year in London – and was overwhelmed by how loved he was and even though he had stopped playing, how wonderfully he was received and honoured by people who had only seen him play on television.
When he became a father to Zoe and Isabella over the past few years, Ruben spent much of his time focused on his family, and kept out of the limelight. He ran a successful Minolta franchise in Pretoria and enjoyed his golf with as much passion as he did his rugby.
It was these times that it became difficult for me as a journalist, never wanting to ask the obvious question for fear it would be linked to an article that would be written.
Ruben’s wife Lize was his rock through all the tough times he went through and through their strength of belief they battled through all the obstacles. No man could have asked for a stronger partner, companion and friend to spend his life with.
Ruben and I shared the same doctor, former Blue Bulls prop Henry Kelbrick who is a wonderful physician and saw to his needs up to the very end. The same can be said for his neurosurgeon Dr Pieter Slabbert, who played a massive part in the Krugers’ lives in the past few years.
Today is a sad day for South African rugby, as we say goodbye to a legend, a giant on the field and off it, and a man of character. Rugby is blessed when these men come along every now and then, and is poorer for the loss of such a great soul.
Afrikaans poet Jan Cilliers wrote a moving poem about General Christiaan de Wet that is more than appropriate for Kruger:
Stil, broers,
daar gaan ‘n man verby, hy groet, en dis verlaas.
Daar’s nog maar een soos hy;
bekyk hom goed.
Which translated means:
Quiet, brothers
there goes a man passing by
he waves farewell
and it’s the last.
There is only one like him,
note him well.
Farewell Ruben, a great man in all respects. You will be missed.
Posted by Blou Karnallie Thursday, January 28, 2010 – 18:43
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