Syd Nomis Biography

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

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

Syd Nomis, the Springbok winger who famously lost some teeth in a collision with All Blacks fullback Fergie McCormick in 1970, died in 2018 at the age of 76 due to a heart attack, just two months after McCormick's passing.

Syd Nomis was small in stature but a giant amongst big men. The legend around Syd Nomis was largely created by Gerhard Viviers during his commentary of a test match between the Springboks and Brian Lochore’s All Blacks in 1970 when Nomis intercepted the ball and ran away to score one of his six test tries.

He played his domestic rugby for the Wanderers club in Johannesburg and represented the old Transvaal in the Currie Cup. He played his first game for Transvaal in 1963.

In 1961, and again in 1962, he was selected to play for the Quaggas, an invitational South African team styled after the Barbarians.

Syd Nomis represented Transvaal 54 times over 11 years, the first time in 1963. He was selected for the Quaggas Invitational South African Team in 1961 and 1962.

He made his Springbok debut in 1967 against France, and wore the Green and Gold until 1972, when South Africa lost to John Pullin’s England team at Ellis Park.

In his 25 test matches, Syd Nomis was on the losing side only four times ‒ against Scotland and England on the 1969/’70 Springbok tour of the UK and Ireland, in the second test of the ’70 series, and against England in his last international.

Syd Nomis was as tough as they come. He was an uncompromising player with a huge heart, great talent, high pace, and absolute determination.

He was always the only Jewish player in all the test teams he played for but there was no doubt that he was “one of the boys”. Dr Danie Craven sometimes said, jokingly, that he and other Jewish Springboks brought South Africa luck.

He bore the loss of his left leg, amputated because of a blood clot when he visited his son in Switzerland in 2010, with good spirit.

Along with Okey Geffin, Syd Nomis was considered one of the greatest Jewish rugby players of all time, and was inducted in the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

Syd Nomis was born on the 15th November 1941 in Johannesburg. He lived in Johannesburg all his life, working in the clothing industry for some 20 years before switching to a career in the security industry.