Willem came from a famous Eastern Province family and was already at Stellenbosch when I returned from the war. A clean-living man and a very neat person in everything he did. Willem was a hooker who struck the ball so cleanly that we never had any problems in this department during the 1951/52 tour of the British Isles.

When he struck, the ball came out so swiftly and cleanly that we were immediately placed in an attacking position.

He worked very hard at being a good Springbok. He would work at night in the bathroom - of all places - planning moves and calculating where the ball should be thrown and how it should be struck. After the first test against Scotland which we won 44-0, I went into the dressing room and there he was lying, exhausted.

"Why are you so tired?" I asked. "After all it was an easy match."

He replied: "Doc, you told me to be everywhere where the ball was, whether it was on the wing, with the fullback, in broken play or wherever on the field. Well Doc, I stayed with the ball throughout the game."

That was Willem Delport for you: a man who gave his all, for the full duration of every match.