Morgan Cushe dies in Uitenhage
Morgan Cushe, a fine man and a great rugby player, died of renal failure in the Cuyler Clinic in Uitenhage on 6 October 2013. He had suffered kidney problems for some time and had been in and out of hospital. He was 65 years of age.
Cushe had a great career as a rugby player, following in the footsteps of his older brother Meshak, whose nickname was Stampo from a powerful figure in comic books at the time. Like Stampo, who died some years ago, Morgan played for the Swallows club in Uitenhage and was very much a local hero. Swallows fell under the SA African Rugby Board, later called the SA Rugby Association.
He played for Eastern Province under the aegis on the SAARB from 1968 and then in 1971 he was chosen for the African Springboks to play the SA Rugby Football Federation team, the Proteas at Athlone Stadium. His brother Stampo was also in the side and kicked two conversions as the Africans beat the Proteas 10-3. They played again that year and again the Africans won at Wolfson Stadium, 13-6 when Morgan made a try for Jack Dolomba.
In his career of 20 Tests, Morgan also played against England in 1982 and 1984, Italy in 1973 and 1974 when Cushe scored a try in each Test, the B&I Lions in 1974 and 1980, France in 1975 and the All Blacks in 1976. In 1980 Cushe captained his side, then called the Leopards, against the B&I Lions, captained by Derek Quinnell. In addition in 1975 he played in South Africa's first mixed race team, the President's XV, against France at Newlands and went on tour in 1979 with the highly successful South African Barbarians with Chick Henderson as the Manager and Dougie Dyers as the coach. His career is a long one, playing Tests from 1971 to 1984. He was not big for a forward (1,78m and 71 kg) but he was strong, remarkably skilled and a tough tackler. One of his trademarks was running with the ball in one hand, like Jan Ellis.
After his playing days Cushe and his brother coached the Swallows, a popular pair. Morgan changed from the mines on the Free State goldfields to become a development officer with the Eastern Province RFU where he worked with Temba Ludwaba who described Cushe's death as a great loss, saying: "“We worked together as rugby development officers in this region and focused on recruiting players from school level. We worked very well with Cushe. He always applied professionalism and experience.”
Cushe's childhood friend and Swallows life president Smuts Ngonyama said:"We grew up together in KwaLanga in Uitenhage during the late 1960s and we boxed and played rugby together. He was outstanding in rugby. We would spend a lot of time at his place listening to music and he taught me various genres and mentored me in rugby."
After he retired from the EPRFU, he continued coaching at Swallows. Themba Maseti, the Swallows president said Cushe had done a lot to revive rugby in Uitenhage schools. "He was a good role model to all the young players and he had a positive influence on the team. He introduced women's rugby in KwaNobuhle and his contribution will be missed."
Morgan William Cushe, nicknamed Koktjana, was born in Kirkwood on 17 May 1948. He is survived by his ex-wife, six children and 10 grandchildren.
