SACS RUGBY LEGENDS EVENING

SACS RUGBY LEGENDS EVENING

What a line up of guests, what an awesome venue, and some of the best April weather to boot. This must go down as one of the best functions hosted at SACS ever. The event was master-minded by parent and rugby legend Andrew Patterson  (“Patty”) who called on former team mates Carel du Plessis, Gert Smal, Rassie Erasmus, Divan Serforntein, Christian Stewart and Boland Coetzee to entertain an enthusiastic audience of rugby lovers. The logistics for the evening were handled by the SACS Percy Montgomery Foundation.

Guests arrived and enjoyed the boerie-rolls and refreshments on offer. At around 7pm the MC for the evening WP Media Liason Officer Howard Kahn opened proceedings with a few introductory questions. It wasn’t long though before Patty was holding court and coaxing some classic stories out of his former colleagues, which had the audience in raptures. Divan Serforntein recounted a few funny moments from the 1980 Springbok tour of New Zealand before Boland Coetzee gave his thoughts (in Afrikaans) on how rugby should be played. Everyone chipped in with their thoughts on their era versus modern rugby and the debate shifted to “can running rugby still be played”. Rugby romantics like Carel and Boland having their statements refuted by a new era coach in Rassie Erasmus. New WP Director of Rugby Gert Smal could only look on and smile as he knows the pressure is on him to play the type of rugby his former team mates want to see.

Also in the audience were other former Springboks like de Wet Barry and Marius Joubert while former WP Players like Andrew “Tank” Lanning, Rob Wagner and Anton Chait were also present.

The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone present and debate and festivities carried on late into the night. A huge thanks to Andrew Patterson and all the guests for giving up their time for SACS Rugby and to the organisers. We hope this proves to be a great start to the 2014 season for SACS Rugby!