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VIDEO: Tribute to Syd Nomis

Syd Nomis, a great Springbok, died in Johannesburg on Saturday morning.

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In days of few Tests, he played in 25 and all of those 25 Tests were consecutive, a South African record at the time, broken eventually by Gary Teichmann.

In 1965, Nomis was first chosen, as a centre in the Springbok team to tour Australasia. He did not play in any of the Tests on that dismal tour but actually played centre in three Tests. The other 22 were on the wing.

He was an ideal wing – exceptionally fast, courageous, determined and dedicated to his team’s cause

Nomis was first picked as centre in 1967 when John Gainsford was dropped after 33 Tests. Gainsford heard the news on the radio that he had been dropped and immediately sent a telegram to Nomis: “Like I’m sad, man, like I’m glad, man. Congratulations. Have a great game.” From then on Nomis was not dropped, on the winning side in 19 of those Tests with two draws on the 1969-70 tour.

Apart from the Tests, Nomis played for the Springboks in 54 matches, scoring 45 tries.

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In his 25 Tests, Nomis scored six tries, including two against Australia at Ellis Park in 1969. His first Test try was against the B&I Lions in 1968 and it had an aura of fluke about it.

Eben Olivier gathered a loose ball and passed to Gys Pitzer, who was a hooker. Pitzer the hooker kicked a crosskick to his left. It landed perfectly in the arms of Nomis who raced off to score.

Two of Nomis’s tries are part of the folklore of South African rugby. And in one Test he was injured in what is also a part of the folklore of South African rugby.

The first was the try against France in 1968 at Colombes when the Springboks won 16-11. It was a great match, one which Doc Craven thought one of the greatest of all time.

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The Springboks were leading 11-6 and the French were running everything. Claude Dourthe had the ball and Eben Olivier flew into him. Dourthe lost the ball and Nomis flykicked it into France’s in-goal. He raced after the ball with a clear lead, till cramp struck him. He fell, got up stumbled on and fell again. The French realised they could save the situation and started to run to the ball which was settled in their in-goal. Nomis could not get up, but started to crawl. He got to the ball just before a French defenders arrived. It was a try – a dramatic, breath-stopping try.

Brian Lochore’s All Blacks toured in 1970. These were rare occasions of great passion. The All Blacks had toured South Africa in 1928, 1949 and 1960. This was just the fourth such tour, and the All Blacks were carrying all before them.

The first Test was at Loftus Versfeld, when Nomis and commentator Gerhard Viviers made each other famous in those days before television.

The Springboks were leading, but the All Blacks were running with the ball. Lochore was in the line and so was fullback Fergie McCormick. Lochore lobbed a long pass to his right and up flashed Nomis to intercept. Off he ran through empty acres while Viviers accompanied his progress with “Syddie – Syddie – Syddie” as Nomis scored under the posts. Nearly 50 years later it is still well remembered and recalled.

The third outstanding incident was not a happy one. It was at Newlands in the second Test. Nomis kicked ahead and chased, a try a distinct possibility. McCormick, the All Black fullback, turned and flung out his left arm. The elbow banged into Nomis’s mouth. It halted Nomis’s chase as blood and two teeth tumbled from his mouth. The Springboks saw their team-mate gasping in pain as blood and teeth tumbled to the ground. McCormick paid later in that Test and then in the third Test.

The All Blacks won the Newlands Test but lost the next two to lose the series 3-1. McCormick died in April this year and Nomis, two years older, died in June this year.

Sydney Harold Nomis was born in Johannesburg to Joseph and Mae Nomis. His father was a dentist. He went to school at Marist Brothers College in Observatory. He left school and joined Wanderers in Johannesburg. In 1964 he was first chosen for Transvaal and played for them 54 times till he retired in 1973, scoring 26 tries.

Nomis was Jewish. For Jews a minyan is important – a group of 10 Jewish men over the age of 13. A minyan is needed to form a Jewish prayer group. Nomis forms part of the Springbok minyan – Morris Zimerman, Fred Smollan, Louis Babrow, Cecil Moss, Okey Geffin, Alan Menter, Joe Kaminer, Wilf Rosenberg, Joel Stransky and Nomis. Nomis was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Nomis was a remarkably friendly and fun-loving man – a gregarious man, instantly likeable. Nothing ever seemed to get him down. When he went to Switzerland to visit his son Gary and his family in 2010, Nomis developed a blood clot in his left leg, the leg was amputated above the knee in a Zurich hospital. Not even that destroyed his cheerful spirit. The laughing smile was still there.

Playing in the amateur era meant that Nomis needed a job. He was first a printer, then involved in the clothing industry and then in the security business. He was still working at the time of his death.

On Saturday, 16 June 2018, in the morning, Nomis suffered a heart attack and died. That afternoon, before the Springboks played England in Bloemfontein, there was a period of silence in his honour. The funeral took place at the Westpark Cemetery on Sunday, 17 June 2016.

Nomis is survived by his wife Annie , their son Gary, who played for Transvaal at Craven Week, and their daughters Joanne and Romy, who both played hockey for South Africa at the Macabbi Games, two grandsons and two granddaughters.

Syd Nomis was a good man, a great player and a loyal friend.

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