Andrews cousins both debuted on significant days in Bok-England battle

Elliot and Molteno, two Eastern Cape towns 165 kilometres apart on the R56, the alternative route between Durban and the Western Cape, have significance for having produced two well-known Springbok cousins who both happened to debut against England at the beginning of the period featured in Battle with the Roses (SuperSport 2 and 13, Friday and Saturday).

In fact, while he was not a relative of the two Andrews cousins, Keith and Mark, it should perhaps be pointed out that there was a third well-known post-isolation Bok forward, Os du Randt, who also hailed from the region. Du Randt and Mark Andrews did not school together, but they were both reared in the farming community of Elliot, which has the impressive Eastern Cape Drakensberg mountain range as a backdrop.

Molteno is to the south. Keith, more than a decade older than cousin Mark, was not from farming stock. His parents ran the Molteno Hotel.

“It is why I have cholesterol problems now, I was brought up in a hotel environment,” he joked when I did a book interview with him last year.

The Andrews cousins made their Bok debuts 18 months apart but at vastly different stages of their respective careers. And their experiences were both very different too. Keith made his debut in the first post-isolation test at Twickenham in November 1992, while Mark made his two years later in the second test of the 1994 series in Cape Town.

For Keith it was a case of becoming a Bok in the nick of time: He was already 32 when he first wore the green and gold. For Mark it was a case of making it young, and his tour appearances for the Boks in Argentina at the end of 1993 that preceded his international debut came when he was still in his first season of top rugby.

For both of them the games were a first for the Boks. Keith played in the first post-isolation game against England, Mark played in the first victory against England.

“I was part of the first post-isolation tour, which included a two-test series against France, but it wasn’t until the last test of that two-month tour, against England at Twickenham, that I made my international debut,” recalls Keith.

“What I most vividly remember was standing there for the anthems, and I got so caught up in the occasion that I had to stop myself from joining in with ‘God Save the Queen’. I remember thinking to myself 'What is the matter with you? You’re not even from this country!’ The atmosphere was just so great, it was such a special occasion, the grass was lush, and I can remember seeing my footmarks on the grass and thinking to myself that maybe I am from this bloody country after all.

“The first half gave me a taste of what it must have been like to play for Northern Transvaal with Naas Botha in the team. I had spent my entire career playing against him for Western Province, but there I was, on what turned out to be the last day of his top-class career, playing with him. Naas put over a drop goal and I remember thinking that he was underlining what a great player he was. He was already 34 years old by then.

“We led at halftime but the second half was very different from the first. England got the better of us tactically. With the rain starting to come down they put the ball in behind us and won quite comfortably. My stand-out moment in the test was trying to tackle Rory Underwood. There was a picture of me in the papers the next day diving in the air. I am not sure why I was there. Props didn’t tackle wings in those days. If there had been a TMO in those days the try would never have stood. I saw his foot go out.”

Keith was in the South African Invitation team that played the Bulls in the curtain-raiser to the next test against England, which was in Pretoria in June 1994. Mark was also part of the team, and Mark remembers the mood at the Loftus cocktail party afterwards.

“What I distinctly remember is Keith coming into the room and saying to me, with classic understatement: ‘Well, that was a good game to miss’,” recalls Mark.

And it was. The Boks were hammered. However, there was a chance for South Africa, captained by Francois Pienaar and coached by Ian McIntosh, to put it right at Newlands seven days later and Mark was one of the new players selected for the task. Mark remembers a typical McIntosh ploy to get the players up for the game.

“When we arrived in our hotel rooms there was a newspaper article pinned on the walls and mirrors. It was from the Cape Times, and the headline read ‘Is this team a joke?’ There were pictures of all the guys who had just been brought into the team. Mac had arranged for the articles to be placed there, and the motivation worked.

“I always found I lifted a few gears when people wrote me off, and that test against England was my coming of age… With my first hit I just tried to kill someone, and I think I partly dislocated my shoulder in the process. I felt stuffed for the rest of the game, but I just remember being as physical, physical, physical - and I cannot emphasise that word enough - as I could possibly be. We won 27-9, a margin of 18 points, exactly the same margin as the Pretoria game, where England had beaten us 33-15. It was great getting revenge, and a great way for my international career to start.”

The documentary on South Africa’s rugby rivalry with England, which of course came to a head in last year’s World Cup final in Japan, 'The Battle with the Roses' will be screened on SuperSport 2 and 13 at 9:45am on Friday and again from 7:50am on SuperSport 2 on Saturday.