Documentary | Herschelle Gibbs - School Sport Legend

it's genius junior school I remember you

getting a double hundred of under 11

level you probably were about six then

anyway and yeah that's just a 25 again

we played perm week together western

province under 13 but forget that

bishops you went to bishops and you must

have fond memories of bishops Herschel

particularly from a rugby perspective

plenty of memories H yeah it's coming

from some Joseph college to prestigious

school like bishops

and not coming from a very wealthy sort

of background you know my dad obviously

I gotta like to thank my dad also my

parents as well for working and working

so hard to get my sister you know also

to spring Bell convent and I ended up

with a gracefully going to two bishops

yeah I mean a great week is like a

religion and bishops I think that the

memory is despite the sport for me both

cricket N and rugby more more

particularly rugby was going through the

ranks you know and had coaches like Paul

Dobson

Leonard Kaplan and basil bay

don't forget tank hamilton-smith very

much a character at bishops great

teachers great coaches but you know that

the biggest thing for me when it came to

school was you know I didn't always have

the presence of mind to be in the class

yes I was their president but my mind

was always a but I was always on the

sport on the weekend we were going to be

playing the team we will be playing the

venue you know so throughout my career

that that visualization started from a

very young age you know and that's

probably why I wasn't you know I didn't

always do the best at school because my

mind was never really on on my

schoolwork I be there as in my you know

the memory is like staying in the

boarding school the night before their

first league rugby matches bunking out

till 4 o'clock in the morning and coming

over sneaking in going to go play at

like 11 o'clock in other egg be match

those are those sort of memories are

priceless you know and I really enjoyed

my regular egg B you know it was the

second best sport for me you know I've

always thought that Tucker was my first

love but drag be up until my last year

is cool you know I played the Komen week

most Molossia Craven week when I've got

my injury in 94 the dream of becoming a

Springbok rugby player was completely

shattered obviously after the injury but

the memories of bishops are you know

from under 14 upwards I was just

sensational I mean like it is it's a

passion there and having a coach like

basil bay was father in a lot of ways

getting those big crowds to come and

watch especially the first in first in

games you know it's things that you come

you know relate to people what it feels

like you know and it's nice to see that

it still happens today my very first day

at school not a lot a lot of people

actually know this that Mohammed had

arranged for me to get a lift with our

neighbors get a lift back home and what

had actually happened was I'd seen I'd

obviously knew my neighbor's car and

watch the call ahead it were to the same

color cause in you know in the car park

waiting for us to come out and come out

of class and at the end of the day I

went to the wrong wrong person and I was

obviously a little bit confused on what

should I do

do the car but it was the wrong person

ended up not game taking 11 walking home

so as you know from Rhonda Bosh back to

Heathfield on a train takes 20 minutes

and I decided well I would have known

that I'm going to go just walk because I

remembered obviously how my father

driven me to school that morning I'm

going to take the exact same route so

and my mother in a panic after five

hours of walking six hours of walking

having fun that the various police

stations hospitals you know not knowing

what it actually happened to me I

finally arrived home after six hours of

walking

also stealing a piece of watermelon out

of the one cafe on the way home because

I've got quite thirsty and/or hungry and

so I was you know sort of destined for

some controversy you know as far as my

career was concerned but yeah my school

days

fond memories for sure Herschel came to

us as a young under 14 boy who didn't

really play rugby he had not played

rugby he played soccer and of course the

bishops you played rugby and you played

cricket and you had to at that

particular time be injured not to play

one of those - of course he picked up

the game rugby straight away and that's

the genius you get players like that you

know

Peter Kherson I think was another one

they can hand the ball beautifully they

they use their feet wonderfully well and

that's where Herschel was sat down good

furthermore he wasn't frightened he

could tackle and I even he was quick as

a fly off he passed the ball and you'd

find him outside your wing in ten

seconds you know he was at that quick

furthermore he could kick the both feet

marvelously well I've never known such

an instinctive player he's a sort of

player when you as a coach you don't

catch you encouraged and so from the

start we knew we had something rather

special there and the other thing is

even the sportsman the young boys in the

school loved it later thought he was

terrific ages we used to worship Him and

stop and talk to him and he would stop

and talk to them and smile and grinning

life for him was fun and his red knee

was like that too not that he wasn't

intense about it I remember playing a

game against sin and rosettes and

Andrews it was really tough and the wind

was blowing against us in the second

half and we were in trouble we should

have lost again and Herschel had a kick

on me I'd say the corner of the halfway

line with minutes to go and stuck it

over and me won again I walked into the

dressing room after to say world and I

found him in a corner leaning against

the wall and I thought well here this

chaps exhausted so I grabbed him by the

shoulder and I said well done I need to

find that he was crying you so

emotionally involved in the game he was

never out of the game

as a fly har feed he put his first

Center away and then he'd go elsewhere

but he'd always be in the game

he wouldn't stick a fly off fly off he

come outside his second Center and cut

through brilliant absolutely brilliant

delight to catch listened not that he

had to and a good team man

I often dim the vice-captain senior he

feels it he didn't want to captain the

side or vice-captain aside he just

wanted to play so those are the major

features that I recall when I think of

Herschel you know he won 100 meters in

his final years crying he broke the

record if I remember rightly I'm not

sure but there's not a sport he couldn't

play in fact in one tour we we stopped

on the way to Ramstein and one of our

players had a parent who was a game

ranger we stopped at his home and spent

the night there and that even we played

darts now who shall never played darts

in his life and he picked up these darts

and My heavens I hit straight away he

was hitting the balls he's hitting the

trip Twenties in hand

he was just an absolute natural I don't

think I've never ever ever met anybody

so naturally talented you very seldom

found him down in the dumps in the

classroom he would sometimes well known

for falling asleep during the class

people insisted that he wasn't right

academically it wasn't that it's just

that it didn't interest him and what

interested him was supporting the school

bless them said different boys are

different so this is his talent let's

encourage it and that's the way it went

a delightful chap