Former Springbok captain Basie Vivier passed away peacefully in Brandfort in the Free State on Sunday night.
Vivier captained the 1956 Springbok side when they toured New Zealand. The hosts won the series 3-1 to inflict the first series defeat on the Springboks since 1896.
Vivier was a utility back for the 1951-52 tour to the UK, Ireland and France where the Boks won all their tests and lost only a single match on the tour.
He did not play a Test on the tour but played nine matches at centre and five at fullback on the tour.
In 1956, the 29-year-old Vivier was the surprise choice to captain the Springboks to Australia and New Zealand. Salty du Rand, captain of Northern Transvaal and Jan Pickard, captain of Western Province were the favourites as captain but, on the Wednesday night of the trials in Cape Town, Du Rand punched Pickard and broke his nose. The selectors looked for an alternative captain, “one who could help to build the good spirit of the team,” writes rugby365.com.
Vivier had not played in Tests against the 1953 Wallabies or the 1955 Lions.
On the 1956 tour, he played in 17 matches (13 at fullback, three at centre and one at flyhalf), including all five Tests, four at fullback and one at flyhalf.
He became one of the few Springbok captains to fulfill this duty in his first Test match – and to lead them in all his Tests.
By this stage in his career, he was slow and, in fact, the heaviest Springbok captain up till then to take the Springboks abroad – heavier than Paul Roos, Billy Millar, Theo Pienaar, Phil Nel and Basil Kenyon, who were all forwards, according to rugby365.com.
After retirement Vivier became a Western Transvaal and then a Northern Transvaal selector.
At this stage his surname was still Viviers. That would change. At school people added the “s” to his father’s name and it was only in 1955 that it was finally established that the surname was Vivier and not Viviers. The family had to change surnames as a result, according to rugby365.com.
Rugby365 writes that Vivier was born on the skin of an impala (rooibok) on March 1, 1927 and died on October 18, 2009, survived by his wife Eunice (nee De Wet), two sons (Stefan, who played for Far North at Craven Week, and Hendrik) and two daughters (Mariette Naude and Eunice Roberts) and their children.
| Basie Viviers | |
| Full names: Stefanus Sebastian | |
| Date of birth: 1 Mar 1927 | |
| Place of birth: Pietersburg, South Africa | |
| School: Nylstroom | |
| Debut test province: Orange Free State | |
| Physical: 1.8m, 79.83kg | |
| Current age: 82 | |
| Test summary: Tests: 5 Tries: 0 |
| First Test: 26 May 1956 Age:29 Full Back against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney |
| Last Test: 1 Sep 1956 Age:29 Full Back against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland |
r.i.p.
Hello mense.
Ja, ek onthou oom Basie se fotos, met die swart snorretjie.
Sal julle later weer sien, was drie dae uitstedig met tione en kuk en hare, moet n slag kantoor skoonmaak, nog ingereen ook daar terwyl ek weg was lughawe toe om die vrou en ouers af te sien, krag af en wat nog.
More pietman
Basie Viviers by Doc Craven
Basie started off in the police force and became famous as an all-rounder. He could play equally well at flyhalf and fullback and I would like to know how many matches he won through his kicking ability.
Thinking back to the 1951/52 tour: I was in hospital in London suffering from an ear infection and could not accompany the team to France. It was a strange country for most of them and when I eventually rejoined them it seemed to me that the team had changed somewhat.
We had one more match to play before the international against France, and I told Basil Kenyon that we could eliminate the few mistakes that had crept in but might have to lose this game in order not to show the French our strategy for the test to follow.
We expected wet weather but nothing as bad as it turned out to be. The ground looked like a swimming pool. They tried to drain the ground and used Army lorries to bring in sand and give it some sort of surface.
The players were virtually knee-deep in the sand and mud in some places on the field. Once we went through for a try and Hennie Muller, who handled during the movement, had slipped and fallen in the mud. He got up and started shaking off the mud. The referee happened to be standing behind him at the time and he accused poor Hennie, who had done it quite by accident, of deliberately throwing mud in his eyes.
The ref even threatened to send him off the field and to disallow the try. Anyway, Basie pulled it off for us. We won 9-6 in those appalling conditions and it was Basie’s kicking that saved the day.
It was the same at Leicester in England. Again the field was a mud-bath and again we won by virtue of a Basie Viviers penalty. His kicking also won many matches for Northern Transvaal.
There was a gale-force wind during the second test in New Zealand in 1956. We battled in the first half but after the resumption we scored a brilliant try. In spite of the terrible wind, Basie managed to convert, a superb effort under dreadful conditions.
He was a player to have in a crunch: when the chips were down, Basie Viviers could, and did, work wonders.
….. en so val die Seders om ons…
Besef julle dat ons nou die volgende geslag is waaraan se bos gekap en gekap sal word???
@grootblousmile – Oi GBS….dankie vir daai opbeurende comment hehe
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