Johannesburg - Who are the women behind our Springbok rugby players? They may play it low-key publicly, but if you thought the Springbok women were demure foils to their famous men, think again.
A theme that emerges strongly in The Springbok Factory by Liz McGregor (Jonathan Ball) is the strength and resilience of the women behind and beside some of our best-known Springboks.
McGregor spent two years with a wide range of individuals involved in producing a professional Springbok, many of them the mothers, wives and girlfriends, and came up with some interesting insights into their worlds.
She first looked at the mothers, particularly the mothers of Bismarck du Plessis and Jean de Villiers, and finds that far from being conservative women who are homemakers and fairly subservient – as you might suspect – Jo-Anne du Plessis and Louise de Villiers are teachers and coaches in netball, women who were engaged in competitive sport as young women.
Vigorous and strong, they not only contributed to the winning athletic genes in their sons, they were vital in directing them through the highs and lows of pursuing rugby as a career.
“I found these women fascinating. In both cases, Bismarck and Jean were fortunate enough to have parents who were deeply involved in their sporting development, but not in a pushy way,” McGregor tells me.
Because they’d also competed in sport (Jo-Anne ran the 400m and played provincial league netball, as did Louise, who also swam for Western Province), these mothers understand that losing is part of winning, and instilled an emotional resilience in their sons, a way of thinking that comes strongly from them.”
Jo-Anne du Plessis grew up in Bethlehem in the Free State, married Bismarck’s father, Francois, at 27, and went to live on his family farm. She still lives there, driving 10km daily to teach English and Sotho at Voortrekker High School.
“The children (Bismarck and his brother Jannie),” as she still calls these two hulking men, “were made to help out from a very early age, in the house and on the farm. Small as they were, they helped me to lay the table and wash up,” she told McGregor.
Cape Town-born and bred Louise sold property for 11 years, but is now a “lady of leisure”.
“She appears anything but: despite the crutches (for a knee op), she comes across as a vigorous, spirited woman,” writes McGregor.
Louise completed a BA in Physical Education at Stellenbosch University and then got a teaching job at the Paarl girls school, La Rochelle.
“We never pushed them (her two boys) in any direction,” she told McGregor.
“Even though my husband played rugby for Western Province, they were never encouraged to play rugby above hockey or tennis… The only thing I taught them was that, whatever you do, at sport or at school, you must do it to the best of your ability.”
Louise added that she tried to stimulate her children, “intellectually and physically”.
Interestingly, discipline was also her responsibility. “I raised them to have respect for each and every person, no matter who they were. If they were older, they called them ‘oom’ or ‘tannie’. There were certain rules that were non-negotiable, such as you don’t lie., face up to what you’ve done and take the consequences. I used to go berserk if they told me a lie,” she told the author.
In the chapter on wives and girlfriends, it quickly becomes apparent that although they live in a very different era to the mothers, the Springbok wives and girlfriends are strong in their own ways, not least in adapting to long periods of being alone while their husbands are touring. As you’d expect, they tend to be physically arresting.
McGregor writes of Jacque Fourie’s wife, Kelly, and Bryan Habana’s wife, Janine: “Both are dainty, pretty women and sexily dressed. Janine wears boots and a miniskirt that shows off a perfectly toned figure. Twenty-four-year-old Kelly has deep blue eyes and long black hair, capped with a jaunty brown beret.”
During the 2011 Rugby World Cup in Taupo, New Zealand, McGregor spent some time with the wives and girlfriends who came over to spend time with their husbands during a 10-day break. They kept a low profile, she found.
“There tends to be an informal hierarchy among the wives, which tallies with their husband’s level of seniority in the team,” she observes. Yet many of them are professionals. “
John Smit’s wife, Roxy, is an accountant; Victor Matfield’s, Monja, is a dentist; Ronel du Plessis, Jannie’s wife, is a doctor.”
Kelly and Jacque, who have properties in Joburg and live in Plattekloof in Cape Town next door to the Habanas, jointly own 50 percent of a business, making diamond wedding bands. Kelly runs the business from home.
“He’s mostly away, and I have to work with the clients,” she told McGregor.
Of Jacque’s long absences, she said: “We have to deal with it, but it’s not fun. It’s difficult to start a family and have a normal life… but we make it work. We are so used to being on our own – it comes naturally. People say it’s nice to have a break, but six weeks is too long.”
McGregor writes: “There is a wistfulness to Kelly Fourie. I wonder if she realised, when she married her prince – surely considered to be a hot catch – that she would end up spending most of her time alone and waiting, at the tender age of twenty-four.”
Janine Habana, five years older, came across as much more confident and in control, says McGregor. She has a sports science honours degree from the University of Johannesburg, where she met Habana in their second year. She told McGregor that after Habana got chosen for the Springboks, she decided to chase her own dream. Today she owns her own fitness training business, with Virgin Active as a major client.
“I always told Bryan that I had a plan. We just had to merge our plans. We support each other,” she said.
For solace during Bryan’s absences, she looks to their religious community: the Joshua Generation in Table View, McGregor reports. She observes that Bryan Habana seems to have an “inner peace”, and Janine exudes a similar air. She also noticed that in the laundry room in the Taupo resort at which the Boks were staying during the World Cup, that Bryan was happy to do his wife’s laundry.
“This is a modern, egalitarian couple,” she writes.
Janine revealed that she would start thinking about having kids from 30 on.
“It will be the next chapter,” she said.
McGregor concludes: “I’ve noticed with professional rugby players that they often seem to marry women a year or so older than themselves. Presumably because they want strong women who are able to keep the home fires burning while they are off doing battle.”
Little more is said about the women in the Boks lives – the book looks mostly at the players’ backgrounds, selection processes, the coaches and how the Boks keep fit and match-ready – so I ask McGregor her thoughts about how the rugby players view their women.
She replies: “I’d say they are devoted husbands. They take the role of husband and father seriously. When the wives and girlfriends are happy, they are happy. A lot of emphasis is placed on keeping the players stable and happy, so it’s important for the women to be strong, and not clingy or emotionally dependent.” - Pretoria News
* Springbok Factory, published by Jonathan Ball, costs R195 and is available at book stores and from www.amazon.com.