Adrian Garvey
Full names: Adrian Christopher
Date of birth: 25 Jun 1968
Place of birth: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
School: Plumtree
Springbok no: 645
Springbok debut province: Sharks
Physical: 1.90m, 116.1kg
Current age: 56
Test summary: Tests: 28 Tries: 4
First Test: 9 Nov 1996 Age 28 - Tight-head Prop against Argentina at Ferrocarril-Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
Last Test: 10 Oct 1999 Age 31 - Tight-head Prop against Spain at Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Tours Argentina, France & Wales 1996 Italy, France, England & Scotland 1997 Wales, Scotland, Ireland & England 1998 IRB Rugby World Cup - UK 1999
Test history:
DateAgePositionOpponentVenueResultScoreProvince
09 Nov 1996 28Tight-head Prop Argentina Ferrocarril-Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires Win: 46-15  Sharks
16 Nov 1996 28Tight-head Prop Argentina Ferrocarril-Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires Win: 44-21  Sharks
30 Nov 1996 28Tight-head Prop France Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Win: 22-12  Sharks
07 Dec 1996 28Tight-head Prop France Parc des Princes, Paris Win: 13-12  Sharks
15 Dec 1996 28Tight-head Prop Wales Millenium Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Cardiff Win: 37-20  Sharks
10 Jun 1997 28Tight-head Prop Tonga Newlands, Cape Town Win: 74-102 tries Sharks
21 Jun 1997 28Tight-head Prop Britain Newlands, Cape Town Lose: 16-25  Sharks
28 Jun 1997 29Tight-head Prop Britain Kingspark, Durban Lose: 15-18  Sharks
05 Jul 1997 29Reserve Britain Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 35-16  Sharks
02 Aug 1997 29Reserve Australia Suncorp Stadium (Lang Park), Brisbane Lose: 20-32  Sharks
08 Nov 1997 29Tight-head Prop Italy Dall'Ara Stadium, Bologna Win: 62-31  Sharks
15 Nov 1997 29Tight-head Prop France Stade de Gerland, Lyon Win: 36-32  Sharks
22 Nov 1997 29Tight-head Prop France Parc des Princes, Paris Win: 52-10  Sharks
29 Nov 1997 29Tight-head Prop England Twickenham, London Win: 29-111 try Sharks
06 Dec 1997 29Tight-head Prop Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Win: 68-10  Sharks
13 Jun 1998 29Tight-head Prop Ireland Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein Win: 37-13  Sharks
20 Jun 1998 29Tight-head Prop Ireland Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Win: 33-0  Sharks
27 Jun 1998 30Tight-head Prop Wales Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria Win: 96-13  Sharks
04 Jul 1998 30Tight-head Prop England Newlands, Cape Town Win: 18-0  Sharks
18 Jul 1998 30Tight-head Prop Australia Subiaco Oval, Perth Win: 14-13  Sharks
25 Jul 1998 30Tight-head Prop New Zealand Athletic Park, Wellington Win: 13-3  Sharks
15 Aug 1998 30Tight-head Prop New Zealand Kingspark, Durban Win: 24-23  Sharks
22 Aug 1998 30Tight-head Prop Australia Ellispark, Johannesburg Win: 29-151 try Sharks
14 Nov 1998 30Tight-head Prop Wales Wembley, London Win: 28-20  Sharks
21 Nov 1998 30Tight-head Prop Scotland Murrayfield, Edinburgh Win: 35-10  Sharks
28 Nov 1998 30Tight-head Prop Ireland Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin Win: 27-13  Sharks
05 Dec 1998 30Tight-head Prop England Twickenham, London Lose: 7-13  Sharks
10 Oct 1999 31Tight-head Prop Spain Murrayfield, Edinburgh Win: 47-3  Sharks

At his peak, one of the world's best tight-head props, Adrian Garvey won his first cap for Zimbabwe (his country of birth) in the 1991 World Cup. Nicknamed "Turbo Prop", Garvey was the archetypal modern forward, combining deft handling skills and pace with ferocious scrummaging. His incredible speed for a tight forward is evidenced by the fact he played sevens rugby for Zimbabwe at the Sicily and Lisbon Sevens tournaments in 1993.

Later that same year he went to live in South Africa and won selection for the South African Barbarians tour of the United Kingdom. He debuted for Natal in 1994 and played for them until 1999, accruing an impressive 109 caps for the province. He played in two Currie Cup finals (winning in 1995 and 1996); and in the losing Super 10 (1994) and Super 12 (1996) finals (playing for the Sharks).

Several quality performances for Natal in his debut season caught the eye of the national selectors who had rarely before seen a tight forward so dominate games with a combination of size, strength and speed. After serving out a qualification period, Adrian was selected for the Springboks on their 1996 tour to Argentina, France and Wales. He won his first Springbok cap on 9th November 1996, aged 28, at tight-head prop against Argentina in Buenos Aires, and soon established himself as a key member of the Springbok front row.

Garvey's finest performance is often regarded to be during South Africa's 1997 victory over England at Twickenham, where his try in the 40th minute was the turning point of the match. Garvey decisively won his personal duel with England hero Jason Leonard in the front row, giving the England prop a horrendously torrid time in the scrum; as well as being a constant threat to the English defence at the fringes of rucks and mauls. Adrian was also a key member of the Springbok team that won the 1998 Tri-Nations and enjoyed a run of 17 victories in succession, equalling the world record. During that record-breaking run the Springboks defeated Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy.

Other career highlights were his two tries for the world famous Barbarians invitational team in 2001 against Wales at the Millennium Stadium; and a try for the Barbarians against England a week later. Garvey played his final match for the Springboks against Spain at Murrayfield during the 1999 Rugby World Cup. In his career he won 25 caps for Zimbabwe (1991-1994) scoring 4 tries; and played 28 tests for South Africa (1996-1999), scoring 4 tries with an impressive win record of 86%.

Garvey joined Newport Rugby Club in Wales, scoring a try on his debut in August 2000 against Bristol, and became an iconic figure for the Black and Ambers, memorably scoring a try in the Principality Cup Final win against Neath at the Millennium Stadium in May 2001 (Newport's first Cup final triumph for 24 years). He retired from rugby in 2004. Throughout his career Adrian Garvey was a credit to the teams he represented; an awesome player, who played hard but was always humble and courteous off the field, despite all his fantastic achievements.

- Malcolm Finch