Blue Bulls - History - Northern Transvaal

Northern Transvaal

The team as it is known today has its beginnings in 1938 when the then Northern Transvaal Rugby Union broke away from the Transvaal Rugby Football Union to gain status as an independent rugby union. The new team was named Northern Transvaal and donned light blue jerseys with a red Barberton daisy emblem.

Eight years would pass before they would first lift the Currie Cup in 1946, when they defeated the Western Province 11-9 at home at Loftus Versfeld thanks to two dropped goals (one off his left foot) by Springbok flyhalf Hansie Brewis; the score was 8-9 to Province (a drop goal counted 4 points in those days). With time running out Brewis, the first true Northerns legend, received the ball in his own twenty-two. With an enormous kick, he tried to get the ball rolling out in the north-eastern corner, but the ball kept rolling and the Western Province full-back, Con de Kock, carelessly waited for it to roll out. When the ball jumped back in field, De Kock noticed Johnny Lourens storming down at full pace and, realising the danger, kicked hastily at the ball but missed it completely. Lourens scooped it up to score the winning try.

Six members of the 1946 team would later become Springboks: Hannes Brewis, Fonnie du Toit, Jorrie Jordaan, Flip Geel, Fiks van der Merwe, Louis Strydom and Daan Retief. Retief initially played on the wing, but later became a Springbok loose forward. It was a great pity that the Springboks did not play sooner after World War II as many players could have achieved national colours had they been given the opportunity. They included centres, Hannes de Villiers and Attie Botha, as well as the lock Doerie van Deventer.

Northern Transvaal next appeared in the Currie Cup final in the 1954 season against Western Province but this time Western Province ran out winners; after being up 11-0 at half time they eventually won the game 11-8. The match was played at Newlands. In 1956 they played the Natal Sharks at Kings Mead, the well-known cricket ground in Durban in the final. King's Park rugby stadium had not been built yet. The wind was almost gale force and during this exciting struggle the two fly-halves, Thys van Zyl (Northern Tvl) and the later Springbok Keith Oxlee, kicked a lot. Five minutes before the final whistle flanker, Schalk van Dyk scored a try that allowed Northern Transvaal to win the match 9-8.

1968 saw the start of a golden era for Northern Transvaal rugby. Under the coaching of Buurman van Zyl they played Transvaal in the final, defeating them 16-3 at Loftus Versveld. Many players went on to become Springboks. They were Willem Stapelberg, Alan Menter, Piet Uys, Mof Myburgh, Polla Fourie, Johan Spies, Frik du Preez and Thys Lourens. They defeated Western Province 28—13 in the subsequent season's final. This was the match in which South Africa's player of the century, Frik du Preez, dropped, scored and placed, according to his good friend and teammate, Springbok front ranker, Mof Myburgh.

They faced Griqualand West in the 1970 final, with Griqualand West winning 11-9 thanks to two tries from winger Buddy Swarts. Buurman van Zyl described this as the single most disappointing occasion in his 14 seasons at Northerns. The 1971 team did not lose a single game and was most unlucky to play to a draw against Transvaal in the final, 14-all at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The controversy which surrounded Transvaal's equalising points - a try by prop Theo Sauerman - once again emphasized the necessity of objective referees for Currie Cup finals. Chris Luther kicked a huge penalty that put the game beyond question in injury time and the fans started to run onto the field. The referee ordered them off and indicated that there was still time left. From the restart, Transvaal got possession and after some good support play scored a try. Jannie van Deventer kicked the conversion and Transvaal got a hand on the Cup. This final marked the end of an era for Frik du Preez who announced his retirement from the game.

In 1973 they defeated the Orange Free State 30-22 in the final. This was followed by the 17-15 win over Transvaal in 1974 in a match in which Northerns centre John Knox had a particularly strong game. This match also started a very successful coach and captain combination. Thys Lourens, playing in his fifth final was captain of the side this day. He was to captain Northerns in a further 3 finals and in total play 8 finals - none of them ever on a losing side. A record to this very day.

In 1975 Northerns travelled to Bloemfontein to play against Free State. 2 hours before kick-off an extraordinary rainstorm flooded the field and the players, despite playing in sunshine for most of the match, were unrecognizable within the first ten minutes after the start. The match was closely contested with the conditions playing a strong equalising hand. In the dying seconds of the game with the score level at 6-all, Northerns centre Christo Wagenaar put in a chip kick that was collected brilliantly by right winger Pierre Spies (father of current Springbok and Bulls eight-man, also Pierre) who scored in the corner. Kieth Thorresson added the two extra points to a try that was to become legendary and Northern ran out 12-6 winners. Northern Transvaal defeated the Orange Free State in the 1977 (27-12) and 1978 (13-9) finals as well. 1977 saw the emergence of a young 19-year-old that was to become one the games greats - Naas Botha. The 1978 final was one that was donned the Free State backs against the Bulls forwards. Northerns ran out victors by scoring two fantastic tries by the backs, one of them by Naas Botha. They were runners-up with Western Province in 1979 after two fantastic drop goals by Naas Botha late in the second half. They won the 1980 final against Province in one of the most one-sided finals of all time scoring five tries to nil and winning by 30 points, a record! In 1981 they defeated Free State 23-6 at Loftus in what was marked an unsatisfactory final. Returning from New Zealand, Northerns fielded all 10 their Springboks except Theuns Stoffberg. Free State did not field their 4 Springboks hoping that Northerns would not do the same and improve their chances of getting a rare victory. Although not in the same line as 1980, the match was still very one-sided. This marked the end of an era for Northerns, since their highly respected coach, Buurman van Zyl, died early in 1982. Another shock was the loss of Springbok flyhalf Naas Botha to America where he tried out American Football. South African rugby was to see a domination by Western Province for the following 5 seasons.

Despite not being able to achieve any success during this time (except for a Lion Cup final victory over Free State in 1985), they still managed to reach the final on 3 occasions being runners-up to Western Province in the 1982, 1983 and 1985 finals. 1983 also saw the first time they lost a final on home ground.

1987 saw the return of the Cup to Pretoria. Under the coaching of John Williams and captaincy of Naas Botha (returning at the end of 1984 after his stint in America) they defeated Transvaal in the final with a legendary performance by the captain, who scored all 24 points with 4 penalties and 4 drop goals. In the 1988 final they defied all odds by beating Western Province and drew with Province again in 1989 at Newlands. This was the one finals victory that has always eluded the team and to this day The Bulls have never managed to win a final at Newlands against their greatest rivals. They were runners-up to the Sharks in the 1990 final at Loftus but won the cup back in 1991 by defeating Transvaal. Northerns, Province and Freestate ended tied second after Transvaal on the 1991 Currie Cup log. Due to points difference, Province and Northerns had to slug it out in a first semi-final on a Tuesday afternoon and managed to do so by winning 34-21. On the Saturday they had to play Freestate in the second semi-final and after trailing at one stage 11-0 in the first half and with about 20 minutes to go by 20-9, they managed to turn around the match and run out victors 27-23 - fullback (and old Grey College learner) Gerbrand Grobler being the hero with 6 penalties and a conversion! The following Saturday Northern easily won the final 27-15. They also managed to win the Lion Cup (for a second time) with a record victory of 62-6 over The Sharks.

The rest of the 1990s was a dismal period for Northerns. They lost a lot of players to Transvaal, most notably Uli Schmidt - a legend in his own right and son of former Springbok and Northerns flanker Louis Schmidt (often called the first Blue Bull). Other players included Gavin Johnson, Rudolph Straeuli, Theo van Rensburg, Heinrich Rodgers, Johan Roux, Gerbrandt Grobler and Hannes Strydom. The biggest upset came when two Northern Transvaal stalwarts for many years, Ray Mordt and Kitch Christie accepted offers from Transvaal boss Louis Luyt to coach. Christie, after being asked to leave by the Northerns administration halfway through the 1990 season, moulded the players into a great unit and achieved success in 1993 and 1994 at Currie Cup level before becoming Springbok coach to win the World Cup in 1995. Most of the players who followed him would represent his Transvaal side before doing duty at a national level. Without doubt one of the darkest periods in Northern Transvaal's history!