Reminscing About The Past

Sharks centre Pieter Muller was known for his no-nonsense, tough-tackling style of rugby, earning himself 74 Caps between 1992 and 2000 for The Sharks before he left to play in Wales for Cardiff.

His rugby career also saw him enjoy a stint of Rugby League in Australia as well as time in Ireland which evolved into coaching in Wales, the UK and Japan before returning to South Africa where he is now involved in coaching club side Jaguars and like so many of his former team-mates both at The Sharks and the Springboks, now gives something back to the game and community via his work with the South African Rugby Legends.

He played 33 times for South Africa between 1992 and 1999 and while he sadly missed out on a Rugby World Cup place in 1995, he did represent the Springboks during the 1999 World Cup. He will represent South Africa in a different form when he turns out for a South African Legends side against a British & Irish Lions Legends side at the Riverside Sports Club in Durban North on Thursday 18 June but this pales in comparison to a day back in 1997 which he recalls fondly.

"That was an awesome experience," he admits of his inclusion in Natal's side to play the British and Irish Lions that year. Unfortunately, he missed out on an opportunity to play in a Test against the tourists but has the memory of that match firmly embedded in his mind.

"As I recall, we did well against them and held them to nil-all at half-time, but they ran away with the game in the second half, stepping up a gear."

Team-mates in that game included Gavin Lawless (who kicked four penalties to the Lions' three converted tries, 10 penalties and a drop-goal) Jeremy Thomson, Robert du Preez, Wayne Fyvie (who skippered the side), John Slade, Robbie Kempson, John Allan and Ollie le Roux, while Muller also points to some of the talent in the opposition line-up.

"They had guys like Martin Johnson, Neil Jenkins - a legend in Wales, Ieuan Evans, Scott Gibbs who was my direct opponent at inside centre, Keith Wood, Dai Young who is now head coach of Cardiff Blues, Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio.

"You knew you were in for a big game against them!"

Unfortunately, there was little socialising between players from the different teams at the time, something that Muller regrets not having had the opportunity to do.

"They operated on an extremely tight schedule and we never got to enjoy a beer or chat with our counterparts after the game which I think would have been great. I suppose it was necessary at the time, and I think it also helped to build great team spirit for them coming from different countries, but united in their goals.

"However, I'll be playing for the Legends against some of the old Lions players and I'm sure we'll get to have a beer or two after that game and catch up."