The long and the heavy of it
When Paul Roos's Springboks went to the UK and Ireland in 1906 they were regarded as a 'jumbo pack'. It is interesting to see how they measure up to schoolboys at Craven week this year.
The tallest of the 1906 Springboks was Klondike Raaff at 1,90 metres.
There are 13 boys at Craven Week who were taller than Raaff.
The tallest were Reinhardt Nothnagel of Hoërskool Monument and Eduan Zandberg of Outeniqua who were each 2,01 metres tall – 11 cm (4 inches) taller than Raaff.
Others taller than Raaff were Hendré Stassen of Dr EG Jansen and Abré Smith of Oakdale (2,00), Jaco Willemse of Paarl Gim (199), Christie van der Merwe of Piketberg (198), Ryno Herbst of Monument (196), Warren Britz of Dr EG Jansen (193), Gerhard Steenkamp of Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Conal Brown of Klein Nederburg and Len Massyn of Monument (192) and Luigy van Jaarsveld of Marlow and Corné de Klerk of Outeniqua (191)
None of the 1906 Springboks weighed 200 lbs. The heaviest was Dougie Morkel at 199 lbs or 90 kg. There were 43 players at Craven Week in 2014 heavier than the heaviest Springbok in 2014. The heaviest of them all was massive Leopards prop Thabiso Khanye of Potchefstroom Boys' High at 130 kg, 40 kg (88 lbs) heavier than Morkel. Just behind Thabiso Khanye was huge Jaco Willemse of Paarl Gim at 128 kg.
The other Craven Week schoolboys heavier than the heaviest 1906 Springbok were Sarel-Marco Smith of Eldoraigne (123), Gavin van den Berg of Paarl Gim (122), Ignatius Prinsloo of Grey College (120), Arthur-Henry Jones of Warmbad (119),Roy Brink of Drostdy (118), Wikus Groenewald of Paarl Boys' High and Jerome Korf of Paul Roos (116), Kaden Prins of Die Brandwag (115), Rhyno Herbst of Monument and Eduan Zandberg of Outeniqua (113), Alandré van Rooyen of Nico Malan (106), Jan-Henning Campher of Garsfontein (106), Harold Hills of Rooiskool (105), Christie van der Merwe, Gerhard Steenekamp and Warren Britz (104), McMillan Muller and Jaco Coetzee of Glenwood (102), Kenny van Niekerk of Glenwood (101), Saul Abrahams of Bishops (100) and lots in the 90-100 kg range – PJ Toerien of Garsfontein, Marco Janse van Vuuren of Transvalia, Sibusiso Nkosi of Jeppe, Edrich Venter of Paul Roos, Erich Cronjé of DR EG Jansen, Corné de Klerk of Outeniqua, Barend Smit of HTS Middelburg, Charl-Francois du Toit of Paarl Boys' High, Len Massyn of Monument, Tiaan Stander of Framesby, JP Kalp of Rooiskool, Franco Naudé of Garsfontein, Tango Mtotywa of Dale, Bandisa Ndlovu of Voortrekker, Eddie Fouché of Affies, Conal Brown of Klein Nederburg, Luigy van Jaarsveld of Marlow, Abré Smith of Oakdale and Tango Balikile of Selborne.
Of those heavier than Dougie Morkel are some backs – wing Sibusiso Nkosi, centres Erich Venter and Erich Cronjé and utility back Eddie Fouché. But the biggest surprise of all is that there is a schoolboy scrumhalf at the 2014 who is heavier than the heaviest Springbok forward of 1906 – Marco Janse van Vuuren.
The man who found these statistics was Hennie Otto of King William's Town and he says there "might be a few bigger boys but they did not supply all info before the week started".
