McNeil Hendricks

Last updated

McNeil Hendricks
Birth nameMcNeil Hendricks
Date of birth (1973-07-10) 10 July 1973 (age 48)
Place of birth Malmesbury, Western Cape, South Africa
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight101 kg (15 st 13 lb; 223 lb)
SchoolSchoonspruit Senior Secondary School
Occupation(s)Actor
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1994–1998
1999–2002
2003
2004
Boland
Blue Bulls
Free State Cheetahs
Western Province
35
37
16
3
77
110
35
Super Rugby
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1998–2002 Bulls 10 5
National team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1997
1997–1998
Emerging Springboks
South Africa
1
2

(5)

McNeil Hendricks (born 10 July 1973), [1] also known as "Maccie", is a former South African rugby union player who played primarily as a wing. He starred in the movie Invictus , in which he played the role of Chester Williams.

Contents

Early life

Hendricks was born in Malmesbury. He attended St Thomas Primary School and finally matriculated at Schoonspruit Senior Secondary. In 1996 Hendricks was selected in the Boland President's Shield A team. He also played for Boland under 23 in the Bankfin U23 Cup.

Career

1996

Hendricks made his Currie Cup debut for Boland in 1996. During the same year he was chosen in the Boland Invitation XV to face the touring All Blacks. At the end of 1996, he was part of the South Africa A squad that toured through the UK.

1997

Hendricks rose to prominence in the 1997 Currie Cup as a wing playing for Boland. This Boland team was coached by Nick Mallet and caused numerous upsets. His efforts did not go unnoticed, as he was selected at centre for the Emerging Springboks to play the touring British and Irish Lions. The game took place on his home ground, Boland Stadium in Wellington. The Lions ended up winning the game 51-22. His centre partner on the day was former Springbok Percy Montgomery with Kenya Sevens team and former Blitzbokke coach Paul Treu on the left wing. [2]

Hendricks was also selected for the Springboks' successful end of year tour to Italy, France, England and Scotland. He did however not play in any games. [3]

1998

In 1998 Hendricks moved to the Bulls rugby team after impressing with Boland for three seasons and played in the Super 12 for the Bulls from 1998. He remained at Boland for the 1998 Currie Cup season, before signing with the Blue Bulls at the end of the season. Hendricks however played during a dark time of Bulls rugby and therefore his talents were not fully exposed. He did however do enough to impress Springbok coach Nick Mallet, who has coached him at Boland, to be selected for the Springboks after also playing well for Boland against the touring Irish. On 20 June 1998 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, Hendricks made his Springbok debut, taking the field as a substitute against Ireland. The Springboks won the game 33-0. [4] The next week, on 27 June 1998, again at Loftus Versfeld, Hendricks earned his second and last Springbok cap, by again coming on as a replacement against Wales, replacing Stefan Terblanche in the 49th minute. A game the Springboks won 96-13. This remains the highest score the Springboks have scored against Wales. Hendricks scored his only test try during this game. [5] The following weekend, 4 July 1998 Hendricks found himself again on the replacement bench at Newlands in Cape Town against England, but was not used during the game.

1999 to 2002

In 1999 Hendricks completely moved to Pretoria, playing Super Rugby for the Bulls and Currie Cup for the Blue Bulls. He was selected for the South Africa A team on their tour to Europe in 2001. He struggled to maintain his starting position in the Bulls team and found himself in the Bulls A team on occasion during 2002. During his time with the Bulls they only won one Currie Cup trophy, in 2002. Hendricks was not selected for the final against the Lions. [6]

2003 to 2004

After the emergence of numerous other young wings and struggling to keep his spot in the team, Hendricks was forced to look elsewhere for regular first team rugby. He was snapped up by the Bloemfontein based Cheetahs in the 2003 season. After a disappointing season with the Cheetahs, Hendricks signed with the Kimberley based Griquas team. He played for one season which was hampered by injury.

In a bid to rejuvenate his ailing career, Hendricks signed with Western Province in 2004. He had a mediocre Vodacom Cup in which he was again hampered with injuries. He retired when his contract with Western Province expired. [7]

Test history

No.OppositionResult (SA 1st)PositionTriesDateVenue
1.IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 33–0Replacement20 Jun 1998 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
2.Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 96–13Replacement127 Jun 1998Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

After retirement

Hendricks is still active with developing rugby in his local community and in July 2012 completed the BokSmart Rugby Safety course and attended an IRB Level 2 Coaching workshop in Cape Town to promote safety in rugby in his local community. [8]

Invictus

Director Clint Eastwood cast Hendricks as 1995 Rugby World Cup winning Springbok legend, Chester Williams for the movie Invictus , released in 2009. This is so far his only acting role. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

South Africa national rugby union team National sports team

The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys, with white shorts and their emblem is a native antelope, the springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing South Africa in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. They are currently ranked the number one men's team by World Rugby and are the only team besides the All Blacks to have won the Rugby World Cup on three occasions.

Gary Hamilton Teichmann is a retired South African professional rugby union player. He played number eight and captained the South African national team, the Springboks, between 1995 and 1999.

Blue Bulls South African rugby team

The Blue Bulls is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, Gauteng province.

Chester Williams South African rugby union footballer and coach

Chester Mornay Williams was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in South Africa. He was the only non-white player on the team. During the tournament he scored four tries for South Africa in its quarter-final match and also appeared in the semi-final and final. Domestically he played rugby for the Western Province in the Currie Cup.

Bakkies Botha South Africa international rugby union player

John Philip "Bakkies" Botha, is a South African former professional rugby union player who played as a lock for the Springboks until 2014. He was a member of the national team that won the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France in addition to winning two Tri Nations titles in the 2004 Tri Nations Series and the 2009 Tri Nations Series. Botha plays for RC Toulonnais in the Top 14 after signing from Blue Bulls provincial team in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls Super Rugby team. Botha was also a member of the Toulon squad which won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup Finals.

Bryan Habana Rugby player

Bryan Gary Habana OIS is a South African former professional rugby union player who initially played as an outside centre but later on, he shifted to the wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 competition, and for the South Africa national team.

CJ van der Linde South Africa international rugby union player

Christoffel Johannes van der Linde is a South African former professional rugby union player and currently the scrum coach at French Top 14 sideMontpellier. He played first class rugby between 2002 and 2015 in South Africa, Ireland, England and France and also made 75 test matches for South Africa, which included winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup. His usual playing position was prop.

Johan "Rassie" Erasmus is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup campaign, doubling up on his duties as the first ever SARU Director of Rugby, to which he was appointed towards the end of 2017. He led South Africa to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and he subsequently won the 2019 World Rugby Coach of the Year award.

Johannes Lodewikus 'Wikus' van Heerden is a South African former rugby union player who played as a flanker. He finished his career playing for the Lions in Super Rugby, and the Golden Lions in the national Currie Cup competition. Van Heerden also won 14 caps for the South Africa national team, the Springboks. Before his move to the Bulls, he was the captain of the Cats.

Heinrich Brüssow South Africa international rugby union player

Heinrich Wilhelm Brüssow is a South African former professional rugby union player. His usual position was as open-side flanker and his most recent club was Northampton Saints in the English Premiership.

Heyneke Meyer is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Leicester Tigers in England. Following his stint with the Boks, he also coached Stade Français. On 8 July 2021 he was announced as the new Director of Rugby for the Houston Sabercats of MLR.

Duane Vermeulen Rugby player

Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Championship, he previously played for the Vodacom Blue Bulls and thePumas, Free State Cheetahs andWestern Province in South African domestic rugby, the Cheetahs, Stormers and Bulls in Super Rugby and Toulon in the Top 14. He was an instrumental part of South Africa winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup and received the Man of the Match award in the final. Vermeulen plays as a Number eight but he is equally adept at playing both blindside and openside flanker.

Bandise Grey Maku is a former South African professional rugby union player, whose usual position was hooker. He played first class rugby between 2006 and 2016 and also played in a single test match for South Africa in 2010, as well as in three tour matches in 2009 and 2010. He played Super Rugby for the Bulls from 2008 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2016, for the Lions in 2011 and for the Southern Kings in 2013. He played domestic Currie Cup rugby for the Blue Bulls from 2006 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2016 and for the Golden Lions in 2011 and 2012.

Elton Thomas Jantjies is a South African professional rugby union player for the South Africa national team, the NTT Red Hurricanes in the Japan Rugby Football Union and the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup.

Cornal Hendricks is a South African rugby union player for the Bulls in Super Rugby, the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Blue Bulls XV in the Rugby Challenge. His usual position is wing.

Hanyani Masana Shimange is a former professional rugby union player. His position of choice was hooker, but he played one game for the Springboks at flank.

Pieter Willem Gabriel Rossouw is a South African former professional rugby player and current coach. Rossouw played wing for Western Province in the Currie Cup and the Stormers in the Super Rugby competition. He played a total of 43 times for the Springboks, making him one of the most capped Springbok wingers after South Africa's readmission to international rugby. He was also one of South Africa's most prolific try-scoring wingers, post-isolation, with only Breyton Paulse(26) and Bryan Habana(53) scoring more tries. He is 7th on the all-time try-scoring list for the Springboks. Rossouw is currently the backline coach of the Bulls in Super rugby and the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup. He was known as "Slaptjips", apparently because the sight of his running legs was like potato chips slapping together. Pieter is the older brother of Chris Rossouw, who played flyhalf for Western Province and the Free State Cheetahs.

Dean Bradley Hall is a South African former professional rugby player. He played on the wing. He played the majority of his career for the Johannesburg based teams, the Golden Lions in the Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup and the Cats in Super Rugby. Later in his career he moved to Durban and played for the Sharks in the Currie Cup, the Natal Wildebeest in the Vodacom Cup and the Sharks in Super Rugby. He was also capped thirteen times for the Springboks and scored four test tries. His career was hampered with injury and he never reached his full potential. He was quite large for a wing, but in the wake of Jonah Lomu's sensation at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, it was hoped that Dean Hall would become the Springbok's massive wing.

Dick John Muir is a South African former rugby union player, and now the international head coach of Russia.

Murray Koster is a South African rugby union player from East London, Eastern Cape. He plays for the Sharks franchise as a centre.

References

  1. McNeil Hendricks Scrum.com
  2. "History - the History of the British & Irish Lions".
  3. "Test scoring record for South African 1997 squad | SA Rugby Stats".
  4. "Springbok Rugby Tests".
  5. "Rugby Union: Boks brand Wales as worst in history". 22 October 2011.
  6. Unchanged teams to contest Currie Cup final IOL.co.za (24-10-2002). Retrieved 27-05-2014.
  7. Colquhoun, Andy (2005). South African Rugby Annual 2005. Cape Town: SA Rugby & MWP Media (Pty) Ltd. p. 63. ISBN   0958440492.
  8. Ex Boks complete IRB course. News24 (2002-07-18). Retrieved on 27-05-2014.
  9. "McNeil Hendricks".