Pieter Johannes Frederik 'Piet' Greyling, born 16 May 1942 in

Zastron Zastron is a small agricultural town in the Free State province of South Africa, some 30 km from the border of Lesotho. It is situated at the foot of Aasvoëlberg (Vulture Mountain), named for the rare Cape vultures attracted by a feeding pr ...

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 ...

, is a South African

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 has represented the national team, the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, 43 times, captaining them once, and scoring 5 tries in total. Greyling has been described as one of the best and toughest flanks, and is best known for his pairing with

Jan Ellis Jan Hendrik Ellis (5 January 1942 – 8 February 2013) was a South African rugby union player who represented the Springboks in 38 tests, which at his retirement in 1976 was a record. His 7 test tries equalled Ferdie Bergh's record for forwards ...

in 24 tests.

Early life

Piet Greyling was brought up on a tobacco farm in

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirel ...

in then-

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

. At the age of 14 he was sent to Sentraal High School in Bloemfontein, and eventually played for Free State Schools. After briefly attending Potchefstroom Agricultural College, Greyling returned to Rhodesia.

Career

Greyling played club rugby for

Hartley Hartley may refer to: Places Australia *Hartley, New South Wales *Hartley, South Australia **Electoral district of Hartley, a state electoral district Canada *Hartley Bay, British Columbia United Kingdom * Hartley, Cumbria * Hartley, Plym ...

and represented Rhodesia, which in those years participated in South Africa's top-level domestic provincial league, the

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 ...

. He featured well in Rhodesia's match against Michel Crauste's 1964 touring French side, which the home team lost 11–34. In 1965 Greyling moved to South Africa. Stints for the Free State (1967) and

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

teams followed, before he settled for

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, where he played for Diggers Rugby Club. Under his captaincy Transvaal shared the Currie Cup with Northern Transvaal in 1971, ending a 19-year drought, and won it outright in 1972 with a 25–19 win against

Eastern Transvaal Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

. Greyling made his Springbok debut at flank in the first test against

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 ...

at Kings Park,

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, on 15 July 1967, which South Africa won 26–3. South African rugby administrator

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 ...

described the test as a vital one, as South Africa had lost 8 of its previous 9 test matches. When Greyling and

played for the same team, they formed a formidable pair in which Greyling performed a destructive role on which Ellis could capitalise, as

Barry John Barry John (born 6 January 1945) is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s, and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC befor ...

recalled in his 1974 autobiography. Greyling's work ethic on the field was such that doc Craven said that for 80 minutes he drove himself like a slave.

References

External links

SA Rugby - Pieter Johannes Frederik Greyling

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greyling, Piet 1942 births Living people People from Mohokare Local Municipality Sportspeople from Bloemfontein South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union flankers Free State Cheetahs players South African emigrants to Rhodesia Golden Lions players South Africa national rugby union team captains Rugby union players from the Free State (province)