Former Springbok and Blue Bull scrumhalf Piet Uys passed away yesterday morning after a long illness.

Uys, who turned 72 on Thursday, was a legend in Northern Transvaal and Blue Bulls rugby circles, having played 12 tests and 17 tour matches for the Springboks as a scrumhalf in his career.

The scrumhalf, who was uncharacteristically big for the position at the time, played in a golden era of Blue Bulls rugby under coach Buurman van Zyl from 1968 and captained the Bulls in their 1970 final against Griqualand West, which they lost.

Uys was part of a group of players that became the backbone of Springbok rugby at the time, including legendary figures like Thys Lourens, Frik du Preez and Mof Myburgh.

Uys made his debut for the Springboks against Wales in 1960 in Cardiff at the age of 22 and played until the age of 31 when he featured in the last of his six tests against Australia in Durban.

While he never scored a try for the Springboks in a test match, Uys was a darling of the north to such an extent that when Dawie de Villiers was picked ahead of him for a Springbok test, De Villiers was booed by the Loftus Versfeld crowd the next time he played at Loftus Versfeld.

After he stopped playing, Uys became a fighter for club rugby in the Northern Transvaal region and was chairman of the Blue Bulls Former Players Association. He later also chaired the Blue Bulls Rugby Co-ordinating committee during the era of Heyneke Meyer.

“If there was one way to describe Piet, it would be that he was a dedicated servant of the game,” Blue Bulls president Boet Fick told Supersport.com, “He was a determined fellow who always showed a keen interest in Northern Transvaal and the Blue Bulls and who was always happy to provide an input into the running of the game, especially at club rugby level.”

Piet Uys

Full names: Pieter de Waal

Date of birth: 10 Dec 1937

Place of birth: Paarl, South Africa

School: Maitland High School

Debut test province: Northern Transvaal

Physical: 1.73m, 79.4kg

Current age: 72

Test summary: Tests: 12 Tries: 0

First Test: 3 Dec 1960 Age:22 Scrumhalf against Wales at Millenium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff

Last Test: 16 Aug 1969 Age:31 Scrumhalf against Australia at Kingspark, Durban