Ruben Kruger, former Springbok flank and 1995 Rugby World Cup winner, has died in Pretoria on Wednesday night after a protracted battle with brain cancer.
Dan Retief – Sport24
Kruger, who would have turned 40 on March 30, was diagnosed with a brain tumour soon after his playing career ended in 1999.
Kruger had fought back from a broken leg suffered in a Tri-Nations match in 1996 to earn selection to the 1999 World Cup squad and fought his recurring illness with typical bravery and stoicism.
Nicknamed the “Silent Assassin” by coach Kitch Christie during the 1995 Rugby World Cup he scored a controversial try in the semi-final played in a deluge against France in Durban but was denied what appeared to be a certain try by referee Ed Morrison in the Ellis Park final.
Considered the kingpin of the side he was named SA Rugby Player of the Year for 1995.
Kruger, who hailed from Vrede in the Free State and went to Grey College, is survived by his wife Lize and two daughters Zoe and Bella.
Kruger made his debut for the Springboks against Argentina in 1993 and went on to play 36 Tests for South Africa, scoring seven tries.
At provincial level he was a stalwart of both Free State and the Blue Bulls.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Rest in peace Ruben.
They don’t make them like you anymore.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Wow… what a blow…
RIP Ruben…
January 28th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Dammit
Thanks for the memories Big Man
RIP and sympathies for his family…
My recollection will always be those huge farmer size forearms with the thick black hair off them looking like steel wires…
January 28th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Ruben Kruger, for so long the rock and the benchmark that Eastern Freestate boys measured themselves by.
Voortrekker verloor een van sy groot bokke vandag.
My dad recalls a time when he was selector for the EFS under 13 Craven Week team. This young flanker from Vrede was only in standerd 3 durign the trials yet was selected for the EFS team based on one tackle.
Apparently Ruben ran into a winger close to where the selectors were sitting and all agreed on the spot that a tackle like that gets you selected straight away!
Rugby Legend Ruben.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Condolences to the family.
He will not be easily forgotten, a great Bok and role model.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Rus in Vrede Ruben.
Dankie vir die memories.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:25 am
“Each day is a gift, and not a given right.
Leave no stone unturned and leave your fears behind.
What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight.
So live it like you’ll never live it twice” – Nickelback
____________________________________________
The way I saw Ruben lived. One of my heroes and will be missed.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:46 am
simpatie aan die familie. Ruben was ñ rolmodel vir my as kind.
RIP grote.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Can but agrEE with the sentiments
One of the Legends coming from the OranjeOutback who went on to be even beTTer in BuLLsCountry!
Condolences to his iMMediate family, friends, ex team mates, Olde Boys Club and suPPorters
RIP Ruben Kruger.
January 28th, 2010 at 10:40 am
RIP
January 28th, 2010 at 11:41 am
This really saddens me.
Pity the good die young.
He was one of the best.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:56 am
RIP – Silent Assassin
January 28th, 2010 at 11:57 am
by Brenden Nel | 28 January 2010 (08:43)
There’s a famous urban legend told around Loftus Versfeld about Springbok Ruben Kruger.
Apparently in the deep dark days of Blue Bulls rugby, late in the 1990s where things were going wrong and there were fewer wins than Springboks in a season, Kruger stood firm in front of his team to take the team-talk.
As the side formed a circle, waiting for some words of wisdom to lead them out of the doldrums, Kruger leant in alongside then vice-captain Jacques Olivier, took a deep breath and said: “Jacques and I will play our hearts out today, its up to you to decide what you do.”
With that Kruger got up, turned and walked away, leaving the team dumfounded, confused and searching for inward inspiration.
It was a moment where Kruger did what he did best, led from the front. No big speeches, no fanfare. Just get down and do the work. His teammates respected that.
But that was the Ruben Kruger that I knew, focused, no nonsense and a quiet giant of a man who lived his life to the fullest.
I remember first seeing him as a glimmer on a television screen years ago when he led his Grey College side out for a schools match. For the life of me, I can’t recall the opposition or much about the game, but I do recall that Kruger, all of 18 years old, looked like a grizzled veteran on the rugby field, a man far beyond his youthful looks and one who made an indelible impression on me to keep an eye on.
As the years went on, and on my move to Pretoria I slowly got to know Ruben, or “Ben” as he was more affectionately known, and formed an exceptional working relationship and friendship with the man.
On the field, as a captain, when he spoke, he commanded respect, led from the front and was a giant of the game in more ways than one.
His 36 test matches are a testament to his greatness as a player, from his debut against Argentina in 1993, to his last game in 1999 against Wales, he was a pillar of strength in the Green and Gold jersey. I remember asking him during the 1999 World Cup, where a younger, stronger Andre Venter was selected ahead of him if he wasn’t disappointed. Ruben gave a trademark, wry smile and replied: “I’d tear my arm off if it meant I could be here in the squad, in any position.”
Kruger will be well remembered for his contribution in the 1995 World Cup team, where he was an integral part of the side that swept South Africa to the William Webb Ellis trophy at Ellis Park, scoring a try in the final which was never allowed. Kruger was also the crucial try-scorer in the semifinal against France at Kings’ Park in Durban. He was named that year as South Africa’s Player of the year. At Loftus in 2000, where the Blue Bulls were playing a Currie Cup fixture against the Falcons, or Valke as they are now known, we never realised the seriousness of the situation when he was carried off the field. It was with shock afterwards we heard that it was a brain tumour.
“I tackled the guy and couldn’t remember anything else,” Ruben said of the October 15 2000 incident. “It was a hard knock, not a big one, but the lights went out and I thought that was strange because they’d gone out in the previous match. I’d had big knocks before without the lights going out.”
“They took me for a scan and found a second-grade tumour in my head. I knew it was all over. You play one day, then the next day you are finished. I’ve been playing since I was six years old and I don’t understand Saturdays without rugby.
“Rugby is a great game but it’s not so nice that I want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. Giving up is a small price to pay. I’ve had a nice innings but I was in a state of shock for four or five days. Some people phoned me up and they seemed to think I was already dead! I said: “No, it’s not going to kill me. I’m still alive, still kicking”.
I also remember travelling with Ruben and his wife Lize to London in 2000 for a golf day arranged in his honour. Along in the trip was FA Meiring and Schutte Bekker and their wives, two of Ruben’s closest rugby friends. I saw a softer side of the man, a family man who would later become a father, and a kind-hearted giant who touched everyone he met.
On one of those nights, I accompanied Ruben and Schutte to a London bar, to meet Springbok supporters – ex-pats working their gap year in London – and was overwhelmed by how loved he was and even though he had stopped playing, how wonderfully he was received and honoured by people who had only seen him play on television.
When he became a father to Zoe and Isabella over the past few years, Ruben spent much of his time focused on his family, and kept out of the limelight. He ran a successful Minolta franchise in Pretoria and enjoyed his golf with as much passion as he did his rugby.
It was these times that it became difficult for me as a journalist, never wanting to ask the obvious question for fear it would be linked to an article that would be written.
Ruben’s wife Lize was his rock through all the tough times he went through and through their strength of belief they battled through all the obstacles. No man could have asked for a stronger partner, companion and friend to spend his life with.
Ruben and I shared the same doctor, former Blue Bulls prop Henry Kelbrick who is a wonderful physician and saw to his needs up to the very end. The same can be said for his neurosurgeon Dr Pieter Slabbert, who played a massive part in the Krugers’ lives in the past few years.
Today is a sad day for South African rugby, as we say goodbye to a legend, a giant on the field and off it, and a man of character. Rugby is blessed when these men come along every now and then, and is poorer for the loss of such a great soul.
Afrikaans poet Jan Cilliers wrote a moving poem about General Christiaan de Wet that is more than appropriate for Kruger:
Stil, broers,
daar gaan ‘n man verby, hy groet, en dis verlaas.
Daar’s nog maar een soos hy;
bekyk hom goed.
Which translated means:
Quiet, brothers
there goes a man passing by
he waves farewell
and it’s the last.
There is only one like him,
note him well.
Farewell Ruben, a great man in all respects. You will be missed.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Reply to The Brand @ 11:57 am:
Nice words
January 28th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Tough tough Bok… always sad to see one of his ilk go… particularly to something out of their control…
January 28th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Reply to The Brand @ 11:57 am:
Hey Brand…
Now THAT is beautiful… and thank YOU for posting it…!!
January 28th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Reply to The Brand @ 11:57 am: \Good piece Brenden…
January 28th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
RIP Ruben, jy sal altyd ‘n barometer van toughness wees.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
DAN RETIEF:
During an immense 1995 he was awarded a try by referee Derek Bevan in the “monsoon” semifinal against France in Durban which he admitted might just as easily have been denied (“Sometimes they give them, sometimes they don’t”) but he was adamant that he was robbed of a certain try by Ed Morrison in the Final at Ellis Park.
“There’s just no way it wasn’t a try,” he said. “I had the ball tucked into my chest, Os (du Randt) was shoving me from the right and the other forwards were on my left. When I went over the line I fell on the ball and no-one else got near it,” he explained without a tinge of bitterness.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
One of my alltime favourites, so young too, legend.
January 28th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Reply to Boertjie @ 6:36 pm: I recall that
I always wonder what would have happened if that try had been awarded..
Would it have influenced the way the Kiwis played?
January 28th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Reply to DavidS @ 8:27 pm:
I believe it would have…
So with respect to Ruben, it might have been our most important try never awarded.
Mind you, we were all over them in that game…
January 28th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Reply to DavidS @ 8:27 pm:
I always wonder what would have happened if that try had been awarded..
=====
Nobody would have known
about Joel Stransky, is
my guess.