Piston van Wyk
Full names: Jacobus Frederick Beatrix
Date of birth: 21 Dec 1943
Place of birth: Vereeniging
School: John Orr
Springbok no: 445
Springbok debut province: Northern Transvaal
Physical: 1.77m, 86.2kg
Current age: 80
Test summary: Tests: 15 Tries: 0
First Test: 25 Jul 1970 Age 26 - Hooker against New Zealand at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Last Test: 18 Sep 1976 Age 32 - Hooker against New Zealand at Ellispark, Johannesburg
Tours Australia 1971
Test history:
DateAgePositionOpponentVenueResultScoreProvince
25 Jul 1970 26Hooker New Zealand Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Win: 17-6  N-Tvl
08 Aug 1970 26Hooker New Zealand Newlands, Cape Town Lose: 8-9  N-Tvl
29 Aug 1970 26Hooker New Zealand Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Win: 14-3  N-Tvl
12 Sep 1970 26Hooker New Zealand Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 20-17  N-Tvl
12 Jun 1971 27Hooker France Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Win: 22-9  N-Tvl
19 Jun 1971 27Hooker France Kingspark, Durban Draw: 8-8  N-Tvl
17 Jul 1971 27Hooker Australia Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Win: 19-11  N-Tvl
31 Jul 1971 27Hooker Australia Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane Win: 14-6  N-Tvl
07 Aug 1971 27Hooker Australia Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Win: 18-6  N-Tvl
03 Jun 1972 28Hooker England Ellispark, Johannesburg Lose: 9-18  N-Tvl
08 Jun 1974 30Hooker Britain Newlands, Cape Town Lose: 3-12  N-Tvl
13 Jul 1974 30Hooker Britain Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth Lose: 9-26  N-Tvl
27 Jul 1974 30Hooker Britain Ellispark, Johannesburg Draw: 13-13  N-Tvl
04 Sep 1976 32Hooker New Zealand Newlands, Cape Town Win: 15-10  Natal
18 Sep 1976 32Hooker New Zealand Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 15-14  Natal

A brilliant hooker - wonderfully versatile and very aggressive.

We were playing against France in 1971; I had heard through the grape-vine that the referee had had a belly-full of Piston. He was apparently planning to send him off the field the next time an incident occurred.

The players were very concerned about this as we did not have a replacement hooker. My advice was that should they notice that Piston was about to lose his rag and retaliate, they should all cluster around him and look as if they were all about to join in.

That is why there were so many flare-ups during those tests. It always looked worse than it actually was and were mostly designed to protect Piston from himself - and the referee.

As I've said, a versatile player, and Piston probably epitomised the modern idiom: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going".