McNeil Hendricks
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McNeil Hendricks (born 10 July 1973), also known as "Maccie", is a former
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n
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 who played primarily as a wing. He starred in the movie ''
Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). Henley wrote it in 1875, and in 1888 he published it in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section titled "Life and Death (Echoe ...
'', in which he played the role of
Chester Williams Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) 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 19 ...
.


Early life

Hendricks was born in
Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...
. 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 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 ...
debut for Boland in 1996. During the same year he was chosen in the Boland Invitation XV to face the touring
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
. 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 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 ...
as a wing playing for Boland. This Boland team was coached by
Nick Mallet Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was th ...
and caused numerous upsets. His efforts did not go unnoticed, as he was selected at centre for the
Emerging Springboks South Africa 'A', also formerly known as the Junior Springboks or the Emerging Springboks, are the second national rugby union team representing South Africa, below the senior national team, the Springboks. Until 2018, it was also under the ...
to play the touring
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
. The game took place on his home ground,
Boland Stadium The Boland Stadium is a stadium in Wellington, South Africa with a capacity of about 11,000 spectators. It is used mostly for rugby union matches by the Boland Cavaliers team in the Currie Cup. The ground also played host to a Super Rugby matc ...
in
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. The Lions ended up winning the game 51-22. His
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 ...
partner on the day was former
Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...
Percy Montgomery Percival Colin Montgomery (born 15 March 1974) is a Namibian-born South African former professional rugby union player. When he ended his international career in August 2008, he held the all-time records for both cap (sport), caps and points fo ...
with Kenya Sevens team and former Blitzbokke coach
Paul Treu Paul Treu (born 23 July 1971 in Swellendam) is a former rugby union player and currently a coach at . He played for the South African Sevens between 1999 and 2003 and was named head coach of the side in 2004, where he remained until his resignat ...
on the left
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
. Hendricks was also selected for the Springboks' successful end of year tour to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. He did however not play in any games.


1998

In 1998 Hendricks moved to the
Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine * Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...
rugby team after impressing with Boland for three seasons and played in the
Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...
for the Bulls from 1998. He remained at Boland for the 1998 Currie Cup season, before signing with the
Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament and the United Rugby Championship. They are governed by their second team t ...
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 The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...
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 Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a Rugby union, rugby stadium situated in the suburb of Arcadia, Pretoria, Arcadia, city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, owned by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union. The stadium can accommodate 51,762 spe ...
in
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
, Hendricks made his Springbok debut, taking the field as a substitute against . The Springboks won the game 33-0. 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 , replacing
Stefan Terblanche Carl Stefan Terblanche (born 2 July 1975, in Mossel Bay) is a South African former rugby union player. He played wing, centre and fullback. Career Terblanche played in 37 tests for South Africa, scoring 19 tries, including a South African te ...
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. The following weekend, 4 July 1998 Hendricks found himself again on the replacement bench 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 ...
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 ...
against , 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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
. Hendricks was not selected for the final against the
Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...
.


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 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 ...
based
Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...
in the 2003 season. After a disappointing season with the Cheetahs, Hendricks signed with the
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...
based
Griquas The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly-Xiri-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Comm ...
team. He played for one season which was hampered by injury. In a bid to rejuvenate his ailing career, Hendricks signed with
Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...
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.


Test history


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.


Invictus

Director
Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
cast Hendricks as
1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...
winning Springbok legend,
Chester Williams Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) 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 19 ...
for the movie ''
Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). Henley wrote it in 1875, and in 1888 he published it in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section titled "Life and Death (Echoe ...
'', released in 2009. This is so far his only acting role.


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. 657


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendricks, Mcneil 1973 births Living people People from Swartland Local Municipality Rugby union wings South Africa international rugby union players South African male actors Rugby union players from the Western Cape Boland Cavaliers players Blue Bulls players Free State Cheetahs players Western Province (rugby union) players Bulls (rugby union) players