One day, sitting in the old members' stand at a packed Newlands, I saw an elderly man battling along on crutches, trying to take up a standing place.

I looked again and recognised Gerhard Morkel, that most famous of famous men. I went across and asked him to join me on the members' stand, quite prepared to give him my seat.

I felt ashamed that this man, who had done so much for South Africa; whose name had been on the lips of thousands in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, had been so neglected. Hopefully I was, in some way, able to make his afternoon a bit more comfortable - shortly afterwards his leg was amputated.

Gerhard Morkel holds the distinction of scoring South Africa's first drop goal in a test match. This he achieved in the second test against New Zealand in 1921. Incidentally, that drop, worth four points in those days, enabled South Africa to win the test 9-5 and ultimately to draw the series - the last test was a 0-0 draw.

After the 1912/13 tour to the U.K., the captain, Billy Millar, wrote a book and in it, quoting an English writer, he says: "Gerhard carved for himself a niche in the gallery of the world's greatest fullbacks."