“Stand tall, lads! Stand tall!” The Welsh Deaf rugby national team stares stoically ahead in the tunnel at Waterkloof High School as their members file in one by one.
They are the deaf rugby world champions, this is the first ever deaf rugby international Test series on South African soil – and they are determined to get into the headspace of the new kids on the deaf rugby block, South Africa.
But our boys take no notice. And even if they were to look up to the Welsh – and look up they would, the guys are massive – the South African team would not have heard a word. As every one of them is profoundly deaf.
I am the president of the South African Deaf Rugby Union, and in this month’s historic two-Test series tour by the Wales goliath, I was also team manager.
The first clash was last Saturday, the second on Wednesday, both in Pretoria. Standing next to the Wales Deaf Rugby Union chairman Gwynne Griffiths a week ago today, I looked on my men as they prepared to march out to war.
They also stood tall, kitted out in their brand new green and gold. I could see the fire in their eyes, and I knew that, no matter what the Welsh threw at them, they would stand their ground and do our country proud.
A few moments later, after the greeting and good-luck ritual, I turned with the coaches and support staff to face our players, and we sang or signed Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika as a team for the first time. Two of our players sang along.
The rest looked at the interpreter, and a group from the Transoranje School for the Deaf signed. What a moment in this eight-year journey.
Within the first few bars I was in tears. To reach the point where a South African deaf rugby side was competing in a Test match was fulfillment of a personal dream that began in September 2007, with my colleague Vernon Vice, when I was a researcher with the National Institute for the Deaf in Worcester.
For seven years it was mostly just us two. We grew, identifying players and coaches, compiling a constitution, and working to sensitise the provincial unions as to why there was a need for deaf rugby.
Eventually we secured the three nominations we needed to have our affiliation with the South African Rugby Union (Saru) tabled at their AGM and, on March 27 last year, the SA Deaf Rugby Union was unanimously voted in as an associate member of Saru. It was another summit moment. We now had full world rugby Test status.
By September last year, a squad of 26 players had been selected. Most of the players were from Gauteng, the rest from Durban and Western Province. Danie Engelbrecht, a teacher at Transoranje School for the Deaf in Pretoria, was selected as the first head coach of the Deaf Boks, with two deaf people, Michael Oosthuyzen and Raymond Jonker, appointed as assistant coaches.
Nkhumbu Nkhumeleni was chosen as our first national captain, with Pieter Ebersohn appointed vice-captain.
Deaf Rugby is played to the normal rules of world rugby, except that sign language is used by the ref when indicating scrum calls, and by the players in the lineouts. The referee uses a whistle, which some deaf players can hear, and others cannot. This is because there is a wide range of hearing loss among deaf rugby players.
The international entry level for deaf rugby is a combined average of 25 decibels across both ears, quite a mild disability. South Africa, however, has decided to select only players with a much more severe hearing loss – at least 55 decibels loss averaged across both ears, or in layperson’s language, players who are severely to profoundly deaf.
This is consistent with the entry level for deaf sportsmen and women who wish to qualify for the Deaflympics, the Olympics for deaf people.
This past week, the SA team battled a second opponent at least as tall as the vastly experienced Welsh – the intensity of playing their first ever official Test match.
Our boys were quite overwhelmed by the enormity of the occasion, having before only played club-level rugby, albeit in the tough Carlton League and university competitions.
None had ever played in front of such a massive crowd. There were 2400 people in attendance for the Saturday Test, a deaf rugby world record for a live audience, and TV cameras had followed their every movement from the moment they stepped off the team bus at the stadium.
Both Tests were streamed live through Blue Dot across the world, a first in deaf sport globally.
We did well to fight back in the second half, even though we could not add to our solitary penalty scored early in the game. Still, we ended the game having been camped on the Welsh tryline for the last 15 minutes, a massive achievement in itself.
The SA Deaf Rugby Team went down 48-3 in the first Test, having been forced to use up the entire reserve bench relatively early through injuries.
For the second Test, the injury list meant we had to experiment with selections and combinations. The Deaf Boks threw their bodies headlong at what seemed like brick walls for 80 minutes, but were unable to stem the Welsh juggernaut. It was a 65-8 rugby education for us.
A try in the dying moments from Leon Willemans was wildly celebrated by the passionate crowd, and we all walked off that field with our heads held high.
Sure, the final score confirms we were hammered. But for those of us who had the privilege of being in the cauldron on that day, we saw our boys give their all for their country.
As team manager and president, I am so proud. With phenomenal courage and tenacity they stood their ground against giants, never backing down, never flinching, until the final whistle. One cannot ask for more.
Next up for the Deaf Boks is a focus on developing our provincial structures across South Africa, growing our numbers, and hopefully restarting inter-provincial deaf rugby next year.
Our strongest provincial unions are Gauteng, followed by Western Province and KwaZulu-Natal. However, there are deaf players in other provinces, including Border, and I hope that by next year we will have a Border Deaf Rugby team competing at the national trials.
As for the national deaf rugby team, we are currently in discussions with Argentina Deaf for a probable tour to SA in February. If this materialises, the Test series will be held right here in the Eastern Cape, possibly even in East London.
England Deaf are also keen to tour here next year, and our goal is to participate in next year’s deaf rugby world championship, currently planned for Wales, with games at Cardiff Arms Park.
Exciting times ahead – and much work to do. South African Deaf Rugby has a long-term goal: to wrest that mantle from the all-conquering Welsh.
For now, though, we are happy. Deaf Rugby in South Africa has arrived, and the world is ours for the taking!
Adversity fails to deter these brave gladiators
They are the deaf rugby world champions, this is the first ever deaf rugby international Test series on South African soil – and they are determined to get into the headspace of the new kids on the deaf rugby block, South Africa.
But our boys take no notice. And even if they were to look up to the Welsh – and look up they would, the guys are massive – the South African team would not have heard a word. As every one of them is profoundly deaf.
I am the president of the South African Deaf Rugby Union, and in this month’s historic two-Test series tour by the Wales goliath, I was also team manager.
The first clash was last Saturday, the second on Wednesday, both in Pretoria. Standing next to the Wales Deaf Rugby Union chairman Gwynne Griffiths a week ago today, I looked on my men as they prepared to march out to war.
They also stood tall, kitted out in their brand new green and gold. I could see the fire in their eyes, and I knew that, no matter what the Welsh threw at them, they would stand their ground and do our country proud.
A few moments later, after the greeting and good-luck ritual, I turned with the coaches and support staff to face our players, and we sang or signed Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika as a team for the first time. Two of our players sang along.
The rest looked at the interpreter, and a group from the Transoranje School for the Deaf signed. What a moment in this eight-year journey.
Within the first few bars I was in tears. To reach the point where a South African deaf rugby side was competing in a Test match was fulfillment of a personal dream that began in September 2007, with my colleague Vernon Vice, when I was a researcher with the National Institute for the Deaf in Worcester.
For seven years it was mostly just us two. We grew, identifying players and coaches, compiling a constitution, and working to sensitise the provincial unions as to why there was a need for deaf rugby.
Eventually we secured the three nominations we needed to have our affiliation with the South African Rugby Union (Saru) tabled at their AGM and, on March 27 last year, the SA Deaf Rugby Union was unanimously voted in as an associate member of Saru. It was another summit moment. We now had full world rugby Test status.
By September last year, a squad of 26 players had been selected. Most of the players were from Gauteng, the rest from Durban and Western Province. Danie Engelbrecht, a teacher at Transoranje School for the Deaf in Pretoria, was selected as the first head coach of the Deaf Boks, with two deaf people, Michael Oosthuyzen and Raymond Jonker, appointed as assistant coaches.
Nkhumbu Nkhumeleni was chosen as our first national captain, with Pieter Ebersohn appointed vice-captain.
Deaf Rugby is played to the normal rules of world rugby, except that sign language is used by the ref when indicating scrum calls, and by the players in the lineouts. The referee uses a whistle, which some deaf players can hear, and others cannot. This is because there is a wide range of hearing loss among deaf rugby players.
The international entry level for deaf rugby is a combined average of 25 decibels across both ears, quite a mild disability. South Africa, however, has decided to select only players with a much more severe hearing loss – at least 55 decibels loss averaged across both ears, or in layperson’s language, players who are severely to profoundly deaf.
This is consistent with the entry level for deaf sportsmen and women who wish to qualify for the Deaflympics, the Olympics for deaf people.
This past week, the SA team battled a second opponent at least as tall as the vastly experienced Welsh – the intensity of playing their first ever official Test match.
Our boys were quite overwhelmed by the enormity of the occasion, having before only played club-level rugby, albeit in the tough Carlton League and university competitions.
None had ever played in front of such a massive crowd. There were 2400 people in attendance for the Saturday Test, a deaf rugby world record for a live audience, and TV cameras had followed their every movement from the moment they stepped off the team bus at the stadium.
Both Tests were streamed live through Blue Dot across the world, a first in deaf sport globally.
We did well to fight back in the second half, even though we could not add to our solitary penalty scored early in the game. Still, we ended the game having been camped on the Welsh tryline for the last 15 minutes, a massive achievement in itself.
The SA Deaf Rugby Team went down 48-3 in the first Test, having been forced to use up the entire reserve bench relatively early through injuries.
For the second Test, the injury list meant we had to experiment with selections and combinations. The Deaf Boks threw their bodies headlong at what seemed like brick walls for 80 minutes, but were unable to stem the Welsh juggernaut. It was a 65-8 rugby education for us.
A try in the dying moments from Leon Willemans was wildly celebrated by the passionate crowd, and we all walked off that field with our heads held high.
Sure, the final score confirms we were hammered. But for those of us who had the privilege of being in the cauldron on that day, we saw our boys give their all for their country.
As team manager and president, I am so proud. With phenomenal courage and tenacity they stood their ground against giants, never backing down, never flinching, until the final whistle. One cannot ask for more.
Next up for the Deaf Boks is a focus on developing our provincial structures across South Africa, growing our numbers, and hopefully restarting inter-provincial deaf rugby next year.
Our strongest provincial unions are Gauteng, followed by Western Province and KwaZulu-Natal. However, there are deaf players in other provinces, including Border, and I hope that by next year we will have a Border Deaf Rugby team competing at the national trials.
As for the national deaf rugby team, we are currently in discussions with Argentina Deaf for a probable tour to SA in February. If this materialises, the Test series will be held right here in the Eastern Cape, possibly even in East London.
England Deaf are also keen to tour here next year, and our goal is to participate in next year’s deaf rugby world championship, currently planned for Wales, with games at Cardiff Arms Park.
Exciting times ahead – and much work to do. South African Deaf Rugby has a long-term goal: to wrest that mantle from the all-conquering Welsh.
For now, though, we are happy. Deaf Rugby in South Africa has arrived, and the world is ours for the taking!
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