Errol George Tobias (born 18 March 1950) is a former South African
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player, and the first player of colour to play in a test match for the South African national side. He gained six caps between 1981 and 1984 when the country was still following the policy of
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
. Tobias's selection paved the way for other black players to be added to the national team: first
Avril Williams, and later, Avril's nephew,
Chester Williams. Of his 21 games for the
Springboks, six were tests.
Early life and rugby career
Errol Tobias was born on the farm Klipdrift, located outside
Caledon in the
Overberg
__NOTOC__
Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the e ...
district of the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
.
In August 1978, Tobias turned out at fly-half for a multi-racial
South African Country Districts XV against the
American Cougars. Tobias scored two tries at the Border Rugby Union Grounds, and helped in the scoring of two more. About 5,500 spectators witnessed the 44–12 victory over the American team.
The
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
erroneously reported this match as being the first in which a multi-racial team played against an international touring side in South Africa.
In fact, the first official multi-racial team to play a foreign national side was the South African Invitation XV which included four players of colour:
John Noble
John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...
, Turkey Shields, Toto Tsotsobe and Morgan Cushe. Selected by
Danie Craven
Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...
, the team beat the French on 7 June 1975 at Newlands in Cape Town
by 18 points to 3.
International career
Tobias' international career began when he was selected for the
Proteas' 1971 tour of Britain. The Proteas were affiliated with the
Coloured
Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...
South African Rugby Football Federation, one of four racially segregated rugby union associations in South Africa at the time.
On 4 June 1974 Tobias scored the only points (a penalty and a drop-kick) at fly-half as the
South African Proteas were beaten 6–37 by the touring Lions side at
Goodwood Showground in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
.
In 1979 Tobias was part of the first multi-racial
South African Barbarians side to tour the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
under manager
Chick Henderson. Tobias was again included at
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
in the
South African Barbarians team that lost 14–25 to the
British Lions at
Kings Park on 2 July 1980.
His teammates included
Hugo Porta and three players of colour, Francois Davids,
Charles Williams and
Solomon Mhlaba.
Tobias was a member of the
Springbok touring party to South America in October 1980 which was denied visas to enter
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. Due to international political pressure to sever cultural and sporting ties with South Africa because of
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
, the tour was wrapped in secrecy, and matches played against
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
drew crowds as small as one hundred.
In 1981 Tobias was selected at centre for the Springboks to play against the touring Irish team. In the first test at
Newlands
Newlands may refer to:
Places Australia
* Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region
* Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup
Ireland
* Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...
on 30 May, a crowd of 37,000 watched as Tobias broke, then gave an inside pass to
Rob Louw, who scored. Prior to the test
Danie Craven
Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...
warned Tobias that the game would be over before he would even realize that he was representing his country. The Springboks defeated the Irish 23–15, with
Danie Gerber scoring one of the best tries ever seen at Newlands, Tobias recalled.
Tobias received his call-up to the national team's tour to
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
in 1981 from Dr
Danie Craven
Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...
via telephone.
Before the ill-fated Springbok tour, managed by
Johan Claassen and coached by
Nelie Smith, Tobias prepared to play on the rain-soaked rugby fields that he expected to encounter by turning his back yard into a mud-bath.
His selection was controversial at home and abroad, with some critics suggesting that he was included as a token Black player.
He was the target of placards and verbal abuse from the New Zealand anti-apartheid organisation
Halt All Racist Tours, whose Dick Cuthbert called Tobias "an
Uncle Tom".
Within the touring squad attitudes towards Tobias also differed.
Naas Botha
Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa (the Springboks).
He was voted SA Rugby Player of the Year in ...
implied in 2006 that players were more accepting, while Johan Claassen admitted that team management possibly had an "anti-Errol" bias.
International caps
Later life
Tobias worked as a brick-layer and later owned his own construction company. He is married and has a son, Sidney (Sid), who was selected for the
Western Province Under-21 side in October 2010, while another, also called Errol, played for the
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
clu
Old Greysin 2004. Errol Junior was included at fly-half in the 2004 tryouts for the
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
Super 12 team, and was a replacement for the
Leopards' during the 2007
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...
season. In 2011 Sid Tobias played for the
Sale Jets
for whom he scored a hat-trick in a game against
Northampton Wanderers
As co-commentator for provincial, Super Rugby, and test matches, Tobias drew positive comments from the public for his elegant use of
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...
, although others opined that he was not good at summarising.
On 8 November 1995 he became the first black mayor of his home town, Caledon.
He had stood for election as part of the Caledon Community Association, formed in 1993, and which aimed to improve the welfare of local residents. Tobias' association won 5 of 13 available seats, and formed a coalition with the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
. He committed himself to promoting racial reconciliation by running rugby training camps. During 1996 he lost his position when the local
ANC elected Abe Botha as new mayor. Tobias, who continued as a councillor, initially criticized the new mayor for being part of the repression of
Coloured
Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...
residents during Botha's earlier terms as mayor from 1974 to 1981. Tobias later committed to co-operate with Botha for the welfare of the town.
See also
*
List of South Africa national rugby union players
South Africa national rugby union team players hold several international records. Several players from the South Africa national rugby union team have joined the IRB and International Hall of Fame.
Individual records
Career
South Africa's '' ...
– Springbok no. 515
References
External links
Rugby: Errol TobiasSouthAfrica.info
Errol TobiasRugby-Heroes.net
* Errol Tobias Scores During the Second Test vs. England, 9 June 1984. Accessed: 2011-12-17. . (Archived by WebCite® at https://web.archive.org/web/20160312134804/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPW-W5Mmpx0
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobias, Errol George
1950 births
Living people
People from Theewaterskloof Local Municipality
Cape Coloureds
South African rugby union players
South Africa international rugby union players
Villager FC players
Rugby union centres
Rugby union fly-halves
Rugby union players from the Western Cape