Hennie van Zyl Biography

Hennie van Zyl, known as the longlegged Springbok, was born on 31 January 1936 on a farm in the Ventersdorp district. He was fondly known to his teammates as Zyl or Houtperd. 

It was on the farm that he first started doing 'gimnasium work', running between the school and the farmhouse and playing by the river. 

It was only when Hennie van Zyl was sent to boarding school in Ventersdorp that he was introduced to rugby where he was coached by the former Springbok scrumhalf Champion Myburg.

After school he followed his brother and sister to Johannesburg to start work and joined Diggers Rugby Club. Hennie van Zyl represented them for two years at junior level and here he crossed paths with his future Springbok teammate Lofty Nel.

Moving to the seniors, and a club game against rivals Rand Leases (now Roodepoort), was the turning point in his career after scoring three tries. 

Provincial colours followed and he would go on to represent his beloved Transvaal for three years, from 1959-61, in 29 games, scoring 19 tries. 

Hennie van Zyl made his debut for the Springboks in 1960 against the All Blacks at Ellis Park, scoring two tries at wing. And although the Boks won 18–10, the win was not convincing enough to instill any confidence for the series against the mighty All Blacks. 

The New Zealand team came to SA on a mission to become the first All Black team in history to win a series in South Africa. For the first test at Ellispark, South Africa selected six new caps and a new captain in Roy Dryburgh. 

The All Blacks were the hot favourites having won all their provincial leading up to the test match except for a draw against Natal. 

The Springbok forwards dominated from the kick-off throughout the match except for a brief spell in second half when they were already leading 10–0. Johan Claassen and Avril Malan were superior in the line-outs and scrumhalf Dick Lockyear kept the forwards going forward with pinpoint kicking. It took the All Blacks ten minutes to get out of their own half and Don Clarke then missed a 50 yard penalty.

Ten minutes later the Springboks converted their territorial advantage into points with a well rehearsed try. A scrum went down 10 metres from the touchline. Abe Malan heeled; Lockyear gave to Keith Oxlee and Mike Antelme came from the blindside wing at speed to take a short pass. 

He was through the All Black line in a flash and timed his outside pass to Ian Kirkpatrick perfectly to eliminate the cover defence of Watt. Now only Don Clarke had to be dealt with and Kirkpatrick drew him before sending Hennie van Zyl away. The long-striding left wing rounded Ralph Caulton and planted the ball behind the posts to a tremendous roar. Dryburgh converted and it was 5–0.

Hennie van Zyl only had 14 Springbok caps and scored 12 tries in those outings. Shortly before his last test he had a hat-trick against the Wallabies.

He was known as the long striding wing with an outside step that beat many opponents. 

His provincial and test career came to an abrupt halt when he and some of his Diggers team mates decided to try professional league rugby overseas. As a result of the strict amateur rules in those days, they were immediately handled like the plague.

That was the end of Hennie van Zyl's rugby career in South Africa.