Looking through the window of my office at Stellenbosch back in 1948, I saw a tall chap lying in the sun next to the swimming pool. I called a member of the staff and asked who he was, relaxing so lazily with his dark glasses on and all.

"He comes from Aliwal North where his father is mayor. He's a spoilt brat and won't get anywhere in life," was the reply.

"If he's a loner we'll have to get him into the fold" I thought to myself. We brought him in in an unobtrusive but most effective way. We got the girls together and asked them to make him feel part of the setup.

This they did - after all I had some lovely girls in my class!

Then I saw him on the rugby field and I realised he had that little extra required to reach the top in sport-confidence, human confidence. It started to bloom in him and soon he was in the lock position in the under-19 team.

The following year I put him on the flank together with James Starke in the senior team and eventually they both became Springboks. James later on became a big success in commercial life but poor Dawie died before he could make his mark off the field.