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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who played primarily as a wing. He starred in the movie '' Invictus'', in which he played the role of Chester Williams.

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 u ...

. 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, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

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 ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 198 ...

. 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

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 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, Western Cape, 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 ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

. 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 eccentricit ...

partner on the day was former

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

Percy Montgomery with Kenya Sevens team and former Blitzbokke coach Paul Treu on the left

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

. Hendricks was also selected for the Springboks' successful end of year tour to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. 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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

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. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versf ...

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

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 Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, 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 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 New Zealand * Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington South Africa * Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town * Newlands, Johannesbur ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

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 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

. Hendricks was not selected for the final against the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

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, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape ...

based

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

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 * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

based

Griquas The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cape ...

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.

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 TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...

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 Sou ...

winning Springbok legend, Chester Williams for the movie '' Invictus'', released in 2009. This is so far his only acting role.

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