A Springbok captain dies
Abie Malan, rugby man and farmer, died from complications following knee replacement surgery. His death has come as a shock.
Malan did many things in rugby – played for and captained the Springboks, became a national selector and managed the Springboks at home and on an overseas tour, a strong, decisive but genial man. His achievements came a long way from his birthplace, Kenhardt in the Northern Cape, a small town in a sheepfarming area about 120 miles from Upington.
While still at Hoërskool Kenhardt, Malan played for the town team and for the Oranje Subunion. School finished, he went down to Stellenbosch in 1954 and stayed a Matie for the rest of his life. His last visit was to Ian Kirkpatrick's funeral when he made the long journey from Upington and back by bus – to be there for his team-mate's funeral. Malan was the loyalest of men.
In 1955 Malan, a hooker with the attributes of a tough loose forward, played for the Stellenbosch 1st XV, was in the Southern Universities team that lost 20-17 to the British & Irish Lions and made his debut for Western Province for whom he played till 1960. After that he moved up to Vereeniging and played for Transvaal from 1961 to 1965, an established Springbok by then.
At the age of 22 he made his Springbok debut against France. It was a good year for him. He played for South African Universities against France and then, after the drawn Test at Newlands, he played in the second Test at Ellis Park when France won 9-5 and so won the series. He ended the year on a tour to Europe with the Southern Universities team.
In 1960 he played in three Tests against the All Blacks, toured with the Springboks on their Grand Slam tour to the UK, Ireland and France. On the tour he hurt the knee that was operated on this year. Despite his injured knee and the arrival of a replacement, Malan played on in five more matches, including the Tests against Scotland and France. In 1962 he played in three Tests against the British & Irish Lions and then in 1963 captained the Springboks in the first two Tests against a great Wallaby side, was dropped for the third Test in a series when Tommy Bedford was the only forward to play in all four Tests, and then captained them again in the fourth Test when the Springboks saved the series. He was captain again against Wales in 1964 and then went under Dawie de Villiers on the 1965 tour to Australasia when the Springboks won just one Test out of six. Malan played in two in Australia and the first two in New Zealand. In all he played in 18 Tests, a large number for those times, and in 26 tour matches for the Springboks. He was South Africa's 29th Test captain.
Waratahs and Wallaby prop, Benn Robinson, earlier this year returned Abie’s 1963 playing jersey to its owner from his 1963 opponent, Jim Miller with whom he had swapped at the time.
Playing days over, Abie was a Transvaal selector and team manager, then a national selector and in 1992 the manager of the Springbok team that came on wobbly legs out of isolation to play at home against the All Blacks and the Wallabies and overseas against France in two Tests and England. It was not an easy time. The Springboks won one of those five Tests. For the manager the French part of the tour, which included nine matches, was a difficult experience indeed.
After that Malan went back to his Orange River oasis and farmed.
Danie Craven said of him: "His grit and determination on the field show up in Abie today as a selector – outspoken, straight as a die, says what he wants to say, crawls to nobody. He made a huge success of his life and career, and he's don it on his own."
Gabriël Frederick Malan, usually called Abe or Abie, was born on 18 November 1935. He died unexpectedly on 23 October 2014, survived by his wife Anna, son David (Abie's father's name), daughters Lizmari and Annalee and seven grandchildren.
