As appeared in The Cape Argus... Thought the Irish rugga followers might find it interesting. He had good things to say re SA, which was nice.
‘Lions tour in 1955 changed my life’
Winger O’Reilly still enthused about South African milieu after 55-year love affair
By ZELIM NEL
“South Africa was, and remains, the great experience of my life,” Sir Anthony O’Reilly told the Cape Argus in an exclusive interview yesterday afternoon, marking the beginning of a business-and-pleasure visit to the city.
Arguably Ireland’s most successful businessman, O’Reilly – the former CEO of Independent News and Media, which owns the Cape Argus – was last year inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame and is renowned for his contribution on the rugby field as a strapping right wing.
After a handful of senior appearances for his club, the six-foot-two-inch teenager made his debut against France in 1955, and it took just four Tests for the 18-year old to convince selectors that he deserved a place on the first British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa since World War II.
“To me it was the sights and sounds, training in your bare feet with the sun on your back, which was overwhelming because it was the first country that I had gone to – I’d never even been to France.
“We flew out to Rome, then Cairo, Khartoum to Nairobi, Nairobi to Salisbury, Salisbury to Johannesburg, so it was really an epic sort of voyage to get here. But it was a voyage of discovery for me, I fell in love with the sights and sounds and the music of Miriam Makeba.
“It changed my life and I was never the same afterwards, I never had such an insular view of your country thereafter. We thought that everything which related to the British Isles was very important, but out here it wasn’t.”
The 1955 Lions arrived in Cape Town in July to face Western Province on the back of countrywide victories against Griquas, Transvaal Universities, the Orange Free State and South West Africa, but it wasn’t until they returned for the second Test at the end of August that O’Reilly finally came to see the city’s most famous landmark.
“We stayed at the Arthur Seat Hotel for quite a period and played the universities and Western Province,” he said. “But it wasn’t until the second Test that the mountain eventually took its clothes off and we saw this beautiful city.”
O’Reilly’s Lions drew the series 2-2, but an infamous last-minute kick at goal from Springbok fullback Jack van der Schyff made the first Test the most memorable of the tour.
“We went up 23-11 (in the second half), and it was three points a try in those days so we scored a few tries to get there.
“In the last minute of the game, Jack van der Schyff had the famous kick. It was quite an easy one and he was a very good kicker, but he just pushed it left.
“I remember (Lions legend) Cliff Morgan turned to me and said, ‘God, I’m glad I’ve been to church this morning!’”
The home team had a psychological edge over their northern rivals after a successful tour of Europe had seen the class-of-1951 Springboks dubbed ‘The Invincibles’.
“Led by Stephen Fry and Basil Kenyon, they had a team full of really good players. I remember seeing them play against Glasgow and thinking ‘Where do you get guys like this?’
“They all had very tanned legs, green jerseys and gold collars; they were big and beefy, while our guys were tubercular and underfed.”
The look of a distinguished businessman belies a sporting hero who remains a rugby man at heart. O’Reilly won 29 caps for Ireland and his career tally of 32 tries in 28 tour matches – including his second tour with the 1959 Lions to New Zealand – is a team record that will likely never be surpassed.
It is obvious that he has strong emotional ties to both the Lions and the game but, unlike some heroes of yester-year, O’Reilly is an avid fan of the modern game… for the most part.
“I could easily say the game isn’t what it was in my time, but that’s a load of crap because no game is ever what it was in your time.
“Take last week’s Test between Wales and France. The Breyton Paulse type of side-step is dead – now you see head down and arse-up runners going full force at the line, like Habana, a terrific speedster.
“But the fact is that (Wales winger) Shane Williams scored a try last Friday night against France and I swear he made seven side-steps – he stepped the touch judge! Incredible stuff and that’s sublime, just beautiful to watch!
“Generally speaking, the game has become better to watch, but I hate this aerial ping-pong and there is a danger that the game will become too high-scoring with the new law interpretations.”
“There’s a great deal about rugby football that is very appealing and very manly. I think that, because the sexes are a lot more vocal about what they like and dislike today than the days when they were more demure about such things, women like rugby.
“They like the clash of men at high speed banging into each other – it just has a prehensile, jungle-like quality about it, and it has a real spectator appeal.”
This philanthropist clearly relishes discussing what takes place between the white lines, but he is equally enthusiastic about rugby’s potential as a catalyst for change in South Africa. “Rugby union is a template for life and a great force for change, because it’s a fairly noble game.
“That 1955 tour just changed everything I was focused on and certainly gave me a great sense of purpose.
“South Africa is an enormously exciting country from every point of view – economics, the racial mix, politics, constitution, flexibility and the capacity of people to accommodate one another.
“I was in tears in 1995 when Nelson Mandela walked out on the field, bringing people together and immediately settling the debate about whether South Africa would keep the Springbok on the green jersey, and accommodation is what he preached – if we don’t have accommodation, we have war.
“I am dedicated to the cause of peace and culture, the sort of thing that we have in this country, and I’m enormously encouraged by the racial mix.
“If you asked what I want to come back as, I want to come back as a South African and the reason is because it’s the most exciting country in the world.”
Winger O’Reilly still enthused about South African milieu after 55-year love affair
By ZELIM NEL
“South Africa was, and remains, the great experience of my life,” Sir Anthony O’Reilly told the Cape Argus in an exclusive interview yesterday afternoon, marking the beginning of a business-and-pleasure visit to the city.
Arguably Ireland’s most successful businessman, O’Reilly – the former CEO of Independent News and Media, which owns the Cape Argus – was last year inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame and is renowned for his contribution on the rugby field as a strapping right wing.
After a handful of senior appearances for his club, the six-foot-two-inch teenager made his debut against France in 1955, and it took just four Tests for the 18-year old to convince selectors that he deserved a place on the first British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa since World War II.
“To me it was the sights and sounds, training in your bare feet with the sun on your back, which was overwhelming because it was the first country that I had gone to – I’d never even been to France.
“We flew out to Rome, then Cairo, Khartoum to Nairobi, Nairobi to Salisbury, Salisbury to Johannesburg, so it was really an epic sort of voyage to get here. But it was a voyage of discovery for me, I fell in love with the sights and sounds and the music of Miriam Makeba.
“It changed my life and I was never the same afterwards, I never had such an insular view of your country thereafter. We thought that everything which related to the British Isles was very important, but out here it wasn’t.”
The 1955 Lions arrived in Cape Town in July to face Western Province on the back of countrywide victories against Griquas, Transvaal Universities, the Orange Free State and South West Africa, but it wasn’t until they returned for the second Test at the end of August that O’Reilly finally came to see the city’s most famous landmark.
“We stayed at the Arthur Seat Hotel for quite a period and played the universities and Western Province,” he said. “But it wasn’t until the second Test that the mountain eventually took its clothes off and we saw this beautiful city.”
O’Reilly’s Lions drew the series 2-2, but an infamous last-minute kick at goal from Springbok fullback Jack van der Schyff made the first Test the most memorable of the tour.
“We went up 23-11 (in the second half), and it was three points a try in those days so we scored a few tries to get there.
“In the last minute of the game, Jack van der Schyff had the famous kick. It was quite an easy one and he was a very good kicker, but he just pushed it left.
“I remember (Lions legend) Cliff Morgan turned to me and said, ‘God, I’m glad I’ve been to church this morning!’”
The home team had a psychological edge over their northern rivals after a successful tour of Europe had seen the class-of-1951 Springboks dubbed ‘The Invincibles’.
“Led by Stephen Fry and Basil Kenyon, they had a team full of really good players. I remember seeing them play against Glasgow and thinking ‘Where do you get guys like this?’
“They all had very tanned legs, green jerseys and gold collars; they were big and beefy, while our guys were tubercular and underfed.”
The look of a distinguished businessman belies a sporting hero who remains a rugby man at heart. O’Reilly won 29 caps for Ireland and his career tally of 32 tries in 28 tour matches – including his second tour with the 1959 Lions to New Zealand – is a team record that will likely never be surpassed.
It is obvious that he has strong emotional ties to both the Lions and the game but, unlike some heroes of yester-year, O’Reilly is an avid fan of the modern game… for the most part.
“I could easily say the game isn’t what it was in my time, but that’s a load of crap because no game is ever what it was in your time.
“Take last week’s Test between Wales and France. The Breyton Paulse type of side-step is dead – now you see head down and arse-up runners going full force at the line, like Habana, a terrific speedster.
“But the fact is that (Wales winger) Shane Williams scored a try last Friday night against France and I swear he made seven side-steps – he stepped the touch judge! Incredible stuff and that’s sublime, just beautiful to watch!
“Generally speaking, the game has become better to watch, but I hate this aerial ping-pong and there is a danger that the game will become too high-scoring with the new law interpretations.”
“There’s a great deal about rugby football that is very appealing and very manly. I think that, because the sexes are a lot more vocal about what they like and dislike today than the days when they were more demure about such things, women like rugby.
“They like the clash of men at high speed banging into each other – it just has a prehensile, jungle-like quality about it, and it has a real spectator appeal.”
This philanthropist clearly relishes discussing what takes place between the white lines, but he is equally enthusiastic about rugby’s potential as a catalyst for change in South Africa. “Rugby union is a template for life and a great force for change, because it’s a fairly noble game.
“That 1955 tour just changed everything I was focused on and certainly gave me a great sense of purpose.
“South Africa is an enormously exciting country from every point of view – economics, the racial mix, politics, constitution, flexibility and the capacity of people to accommodate one another.
“I was in tears in 1995 when Nelson Mandela walked out on the field, bringing people together and immediately settling the debate about whether South Africa would keep the Springbok on the green jersey, and accommodation is what he preached – if we don’t have accommodation, we have war.
“I am dedicated to the cause of peace and culture, the sort of thing that we have in this country, and I’m enormously encouraged by the racial mix.
“If you asked what I want to come back as, I want to come back as a South African and the reason is because it’s the most exciting country in the world.”
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