A funny common definition of a rugby winger, right or left, is that they are “a glory hunter” who spends most of the game away from the action, waiting for the rare chance to score a try.
That may have sometimes been true in the past but not in the modern era, where the wing plays such an important role in helping out the fullback in the aerial battle, where the chasing of the kicks is so important and the defending of the wide channels is so crucial to a successful team performance.
Some tactical descriptions for describe the right wing as a second fullback, and to some extent that is true - if you look at our list of Bok right wings, all of them played fullback at some point of their career, with some starting their careers there (Cheslin Kolbe and James Small) and others ending their careers there (Stefan Terblanche).
Right wing is one of the positions many where there have been many celebrated Springboks dating back to Ray Mordt and before that in the pre-isolation era, and Ashwin Willemse springs to mind as someone who might have gone far in the position were it not for the cruel injury that robbed him of the explosive pace necessary for the position.
Our candidates for the Springbok Dream Team No14 jersey
Cheslin Kolbe (Springboks 2018 to current)
Double Rugby World Cup winner Cheslin Kolbe is one of South African rugby’s most celebrated rugby players of all time - something that his then Western Province coach John Dobson predicted he would be when he made his first waves in senior rugby playing fullback in the Vodacom Cup.
Kolbe, who’s versatility was underlined when he played a good game at fullback in the first match of the November tour against Japan, and was the cover for scrumhalf in the last World Cup final, has scored 21 tries in 48 appearances for his country but in truth he’s made a lot more - and saved a few too.
Apart from winning a Currie Cup with WP and the two World Cup titles plus three Rugby Championships, Kolbe has also excelled in French club rugby, winning the Top 14 twice and the Champions Cup with Toulouse and the EPCR Challenge Cup with Toulon. He currently plays his club rugby in Japan.
James Small (Springboks 1992 to 1997)
James Small was arguably South African rugby’s first rock star, with his popular appeal extending beyond the sport in the years he played for his country. He started out playing fullback for Transvaal but it was on the right wing that he settled both for his province and then, when South Africa returned to international rugby in 1992, for his country.
Small had his low points and was never far from controversy. After his debut he was in tears after dropping the ball on an open line against the All Blacks in Johannesburg, and he was also the first Bok to be sent off when English referee Ed Morrison banished him for allegedly swearing at him during a Test in Brisbane in 1993.
However none of the low points and controversies, some of which were not of his own doing, managed to counter-balance his passionate zeal for his country, his feisty approach and his role in cutting down the man monster Jonah Lomu in the historic 1995 World Cup final against the All Blacks.
For a long time his 25 tries was a Bok record and so was his number of appearances in the green and gold - 47.
He won two Currie Cup titles with Natal, the province he moved to after Transvaal narrowly lost the 1992 final, and also one for Western Province. In fact he was the first player to win the coveted golden trophy for two separate provinces in consecutive years.
JP Pietersen (Springboks 2006 to 2016)
JP Pietersen was one of several highly talented young players who were thrown in at the deep end by the then Sharks coach Dick Muir in 2006, with Ruan Pienaar and Frans Steyn being others, and found that they quickly adapted to life in the fast zone.
Pietersen was in fact just 18 when he got his first chance with the Sharks in 2005, and was just 21 when he was part of the Bok team that won the World Cup under the coaching of Jake White and John Smit in 2007.
Given how far he travelled as a young player, and the waves he made, it could be argued that Pietersen never quite achieved the level that some might have expected him to, although that would be unfair if you consider that he played a key role in winning a World Cup, a Tri-Nations and British and Irish Lions series. A tall, strongly built player, Pietersen was good at the aerial game and difficult to bring down.
He had a relatively long career with the Boks and scored 24 tries in 70 Test matches. He is now making waves as a young coach in the Sharks’ system and we are likely to hear much more from him in the future in his post-playing career.
Breyton Paulse (Springboks 1999 - 2007)
Now a Supersport analyst and commentator, Breyton Paulse was a try scoring magician in his playing days. He was first spotted playing fullback for Stellenbosch University, where he had taken up a scholarship after starting out life as the child of farm labourers near Ceres. His talent was obvious and so was his pace.
Paulse made his Western Province debut at the age of just 20 in 1996 but it was two years later that he first started making an advance on national honours as he kept the legendary Chester Williams out of the WP team that narrowly lost the 1998 Currie Cup final to the Bulls. Nick Mallett then selected him to his squad for the November tour of the UK and Ireland, where he was used as a midweek player.
Paulse excelled in the Stormers’ memorable ‘Men in Black’ campaign in 1999, where they topped the log for much of the season before losing a quarterfinal when their brilliant captain Bob Skinstad was out injured, and it was from that platform that he launched his test career later that year.
He wasn’t a first choice at the 1999 Rugby World Cup but made a point with a brilliant solo try against New Zealand in the third/fourth playoff game in Cardiff and after that his international career took off.
He was a dab try scorer, often very good at intercepting too, and ended with 26 tries across his 64 test appearances for the Boks. He played his entire provincial/franchise career in the Cape and won Currie Cup with WP in 2000 and 2001.
Stefan Terblanche (Springboks 1998 to 2003)
James Small, one of his heroes, had been a fixture on the right wing for many years when Stefan Terblanche, a product of Swellendam in the South Western Districts, but the then Sharks player quickly dispelled any doubts about Nick Mallett’s succession plan when he scored four tries on his international debut against Ireland in Bloemfontein.
Terblanche, relatively tall and very quick, didn’t follow the traditional path of Boks through Craven Week and age-group representation, and made his name playing for Boland when he was studying education in Wellington.
He quickly showed that he was a player of ability and the Sharks snapped him up to play Super Rugby in 1998, and it was some excellent games against legendary Kiwis that saw him propelled into the Boks team.
As those four tries on debut will suggest, he was known as a great finisher—his test try per match ratio of 0.51 is among the highest in Springbok history. He played 37 times for the Boks and scored 19 tries across those games which spanned a time period of five years.
Apart from wing, he also played several games for the Sharks at centre and at fullback, and he captained the Sharks to their memorable 30-10 win over Western Province in one of the last really great full strength Currie Cup finals in 2010. After 2003 he spent several seasons playing overseas before returning to Durban in 2007.