Butch was the best under-19 player of his year at Stellenbosch.

The first thing that comes to mind about him is the 1956 tour to Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand were still sore about their 1949 tour to South Africa, where they had lost all four tests, in no small measure due to Okey Geffin's kicking ability as well as the part that Hennie Muller had played as a roving loose forward.

They were in fact looking for revenge on Hennie Muller, who had done most of the damage and had dented their reputation rather badly in 1949. Hennie had retired by then and Butch, as a similar roving kind of forward, had to bear the brunt of the All Black onslaught.

However, Butch demolished their flyhalves from the line-outs. He could tackle like a demon, just as Jimmy White did during the 1937 tour.

It was after this disillusionment that they started with the up and unders, which nearly killed our players. Butch, unbeknown to himself, was in part responsible for this particular retaliation, because of his excellent tackling. There have certainly been few men who have tackled as well as he did. He has continued to give South Africa sterling service as an administrator to this day.