Hung out to die
16 Dec 2011
RYAN VREDE, writing in Business Day Sport Monthly, says the late Solly Tyibilika was always fighting a losing battle.
Solly Tyibilika’s career died long before his life ended. Indeed, a strong argument can be made that his life ended because his career died.
The why and how are important in equal measure when reflecting on his career and life. Why Tyibilika, who, by all accounts, had become mixed up with elicitors of trouble, was murdered in a hail of bullets in a Gugelethu shebeen on a Sunday afternoon, was still under investigation at the time of writing. How the 32-year-old went from crossing the tryline on debut for the Springboks in 2004 to lying in police chalk lines seven years later, is compelling. It is the rugby tragedy of our time.
I was lunching with a Springbok and former team-mate of Tyibilika’s at the time the news of his death broke. As details of its nature emerged – a calculated, gang-style hit that saw his body pumped with what an eye witness deemed ‘countless shots’ – his reaction struck me as strange. Tyibilika’s violent end was not unexpected. Through at least 20 text messages the player showed me it became apparent that this sentiment was shared by even those players who were closest to him. Certainly his death was lamented in these messages, but it was telling that most senders were not particularly surprised by its nature.
‘When Solly felt cared for he was invested in his career and determined to succeed,’ the player said. ‘When he felt hard done by he could be pretty self-destructive.’
There were to be increasing instances when his emotional immaturity manifested in this manner as his career progressed. But this wasn’t always so. Tyibilika caught the Sharks’ eye in 2003 off the back of impressive performances for Griquas. He would establish himself as a regular member of their Super Rugby squad – his pace, upper-body strength, work rate and robust approach placing him among the top openside flankers in the country at the time. He lacked the finesse, guile, vision and tactical appreciation that separated the good scavengers from the great ones, but attained a level of consistency that appealed to Springbok coach Jake White in late 2004.
There were muted grumbles of a political agenda when Tyibilika was named in White’s end-of-year tour squad. However, the overriding feeling was that Tyibilika had the potential to develop into a more than competent Test player.
He acquitted himself well on debut against Scotland at Murrayfield, becoming the first black African to score a try for the Springboks. He started against Argentina in Buenos Aires a week later and maintained a high enough standard domestically in 2005 to be a part of White’s squad for the Test season. There had been little evidence to support rhetoric about the wealth of world-class black talent in Tyibilika’s home province, the Eastern Cape. Tyibilika, it appeared, would be a groundbreaker in this regard, particularly since he was a forward, a rare commodity in a region renowned for producing backline players.
Then something happened that hinted at a delinquent demon that would surface with greater and lesser degrees of intensity as his career progressed. The Springboks staged a Test in East London against Uruguay. Tyibilika scored twice in the 134-3 rout and later invited friends who had travelled from his hometown, New Brighton, up to his hotel room to share a celebratory drink. He left three days later, having missed the team’s flight to Durban and depleting most of his not inconsiderable match fee.
Still, there were glimpses of brilliance that inspired. A month later Tyibilika would outplay Australian George Smith in a Tri-Nations Test at Ellis Park, before being injured and substituted at half-time by Schalk Burger.
The Springboks won 33-20 but Tyibilika only featured in the southern hemisphere showpiece again a year later, playing in losing sides in three Tests, although not looking an impostor in elevated company. This was particularly pertinent, given that in a post-match press conference a week before, White had intimated that Tyibilika was included because of the colour of his skin. There was a clamour for the in-form Luke Watson’s inclusion after the Springboks suffered a 49-0 defeat to Australia in Brisbane, but White explained his decision to go with Tyibilika, in light of Danie Rossouw’s tour-ending injury, saying: ‘We need to be honest about sensitivities of the make-up of the team and show that transformation is happening in our country. We have got a guy like Solly on tour. There is a relationship in a team structure and we need to be considerate to that dynamic between the players.’
In Burger’s injury-enforced absence White later called Tyibilika the best openside flank in the country prior to the Loftus Test against New Zealand. The 47 minutes Tyibilika played in that heavy defeat would be his last for the Springboks.
This had much to do with a move to the Lions in 2007, one, he said, necessitated by the lack of game time he was getting in Durban. Breaking into the World Cup squad was his top priority and White had offered assurances that he was in the planning for the tournament. Eager to make a good impression on his new employers, Tyibilika trained relentlessly in the off-season and was unrivalled in the conditioning stakes when tests were conducted in camps in preparation for the Super Rugby campaign. However, his contribution amounted to little more than hit-outs in a couple of pre-season friendlies. Deemed surplus to requirements, Tyibilika was relegated to the Vodacom Cup side, where, he claimed, the coach wasn’t aware of his demotion and not prepared to integrate him into his plans. Thus began Tyibilika’s descent, marked by regular absenteeism and an ever-declining appetite for the game and its demands. His hunger for hedonism grew in direct proportion. He was relegated to club rugby. This a year after playing the All Blacks. The Lions released him from his R700 000-a-year contract. His ambition of breaking into the World Cup squad lay in tatters. He would end up watching the final in an East London shebeen.
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) made weak attempts at rehabilitating a man it once claimed to have great faith in. The Lions are even more culpable. Certainly Tyibilika must not be mitigated for his self-destructive behaviour, but he was failed by those who professed to have his interests at heart.
He is not alone in this regard. There have been varying levels of incompetence and irresponsibility in Saru’s dealings with black players specifically. Top South African coach Heyneke Meyer relayed the story of Chiliboy Ralepelle and Hilton Lobberts’ selection to tour Europe with the Springboks in 2006 to me. Ralepelle and Lobberts were among the best in their positions in the world at U19 level. Prior to their announcement in the squad Meyer pleaded with Saru not to take them, citing their emotional and physical immaturity and stressing that they would be better equipped two years from then.
Lobberts is said to have blown the R400 000 he made on two Volkswagen GTIs, supporting Meyer’s former assertion. He hasn’t played for South Africa in five years and hasn’t looked close to doing so. Ralepelle struggled with recurring injuries thereafter, lending support to the latter offering. He also suffered at the hands of national coaches who told the world he was rugby royalty, but treated him like a leper.
There are others who exhibited a capacity to overcome setbacks, former Springbok wing Ashwin Willemse being the prime example. Despite being plagued by injuries, Willemse refused to allow his spirit to be killed. He regained fitness and was included in the 2007 World Cup squad. He now has a burgeoning career as an analyst on SuperSport that is far removed from the path his life could have followed had he opted to surrender to Hope’s assassin and return to the drug and gang culture that was a feature of his childhood. Tyibilika didn’t possess Willemse’s immense resolve. His tendency for self-sabotage demanded that he had a strong mentor, even a team of them, who could constantly reinforce his value, celebrate his talent and be prepared to talk hard when needed. In addition, he also needed brutal honesty and a clearly defined goal from his coaches. Instead he found the validation and emotional investment he sought from men who fuelled the beast within.
There is no question that Tyibilika was a fundamentally good man whose life course diverted from a route that promised a rich legacy to one that led to a premature and deeply saddening end. But that alone doesn’t warrant bringing his story into the national consciousness.
There are lessons in Tyibilika’s life and his violent death that must be heeded by the game’s administrators. History reflects that professional black athletes, specifically those from low socio-economic backgrounds, are more prone to delinquency than their white counterparts. A range of explanations has been offered for this, the primary one being the former’s generally underdeveloped emotional intelligence and life skills which compromises their capacity to adequately deal with their ascent from paupers to princes. This rings true for South African rugby players, where that division between privileged and poor is even more pronounced.
This is the stark education that Tyibilika’s story must provide. It is utterly unacceptable that 16 years into the professional era the game’s administrators still haven’t established a world-class programme that focuses on equipping young black players with the skills needed to negotiate challenges they will encounter in their careers. This must be an issue that commands immediate attention.
Tyibilika possessed some measure of fight even in the last moments, dragging his bullet-riddled body across the ground for a couple of metres in search of help. His physical wounds ultimately proved to be mortal, but the mental wounds he incurred in the latter part of his professional career had long since killed his spirit. How different it could all have been had someone cared for him enough to make his mind bulletproof.
– This article appears in the January issue of Business Day Sport Monthly, on sale now at selected outlets
454 Comments
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17 Dec 2011, 17:03 pm
@ET.-94: oh i see you’re EL…how long will you be there? i’m off to Jozi tomorrow & will jetting into eMonti next week thursday…my earlier offer still stands.
17 Dec 2011, 17:12 pm
damn, vernon now has 4 “michelles” in 3 Tests…the boy is on fire. i hope Boderick is watching all the way in Espana.
17 Dec 2011, 17:13 pm
@Transformation-100:
Passed through for the 2nd time and now in EL but will be in eBhayi next week and probably all through to when i leave soon after the New Year.
I will try my best but will have to say, in fairness, it is all family time in PE and there are very many in the clan.
17 Dec 2011, 17:15 pm
@Transformation-102:
Why do you call ‘five-fors’ ‘michelles’?
17 Dec 2011, 17:22 pm
Ever since that despicable and pitiful mercenary rebel tour by Sri Lanka(tiny island of Ceylon) they have managed to beat S.A. only about one time on S.A. soil and that would have been in 18 – 23 international games(including those rebel ones).
Clearly much ado about nothing.
17 Dec 2011, 17:23 pm
Oooo jinne
17 Dec 2011, 17:36 pm
@ET.-104: michelle PFEIFFER
17 Dec 2011, 17:43 pm
@Transformation-107:
She can only be a 10 whichever way you look at her.
17 Dec 2011, 17:45 pm
Awards of the year (Gavin Rich-Cape Argus)
SA coach: John Michell
SA team: Stormers
SA player: Schalk Burger
SA talent Spotter of year: Alan Zondagh (for convincing would be musician/veterinarian Josh Strausto take rugby seriously)
Disappointment of the year: John Smit for his inability to look in the mirror and accept that Bismark should have started the big games
2nd disappointment of the year: Victor Matfield for not saying to Smit what he should have said when Smit asked him whether he should still be in starting team
Divine intervention of the year that helped the All Blacks: the gust of wind that saw Butch James missed a kick and prompted Piet Div to start Morne at the wc.
Ignoramus of the year award: WP rugby administrators who by questioning the work Rassie Erasmus has done to make WP/Stormers competitive again reminded us to what the biggest obstacle is to WP becoming a champion Union again.
17 Dec 2011, 17:46 pm
My jedi instincts sense a disturbance in th SA force now that extraball is here.
17 Dec 2011, 18:53 pm
Some people can be helped and some can’t. It’s that simple.
17 Dec 2011, 21:58 pm
@Michael-84: Top schools? Now it’s the school’s duty to teach kids how to be sensible with money if they come into wealth? And, in addition to the cirriculum, the schools must teach them how to drive safely, wear your lifejacket, use condoms, wash your hands after going to the loo, brush your teeth, say your prayers, stay off drugs and booze, claim your tax refunds, set a cricket field, time your pass, debate a moot, come in on cue in a panto, recycle your waste, analyse the share market, apply for a passport, invest for your retirement …
And if they don’t teach you all those things, you’re basically stuffed.
Biggest rot I’ve ever heard!
17 Dec 2011, 22:05 pm
Yo tackler calm down already.
17 Dec 2011, 22:23 pm
Haven’t seen you so worked up since … Never.
18 Dec 2011, 01:46 am
What a crock of shite… what’s become of one’s taking-responsibility-for-one-owns-actions/future!
Never has an employer of mine (nor me to my employees) had to play the role of life-coach!
Perhaps one should apportion some blame to his parents… much to the ludicrous notion of quota’s (which no doubt play on black player’s minds no matter how deserving they are in their careers) and every ounce more to the man himself!
This pandering to the needs of pop-star sportsman is ridiculous…
Sad yes… ‘hung out to die’ well that’s simply waxing lyrical in the ‘real’ world!
18 Dec 2011, 09:38 am
One could also contest that our politicians and greedyancyl members ought to be in program’s to teach them how to live responsibly with the money they steal/award themselves through tenders.
Surely they are also from disadvantaged backgrounds?
I don’t see anyone blaming the current government and asking them to put programmes in place to help their ministers deal with the sudden wealth that they suddenly have (no matter how they achieved it)
18 Dec 2011, 09:41 am
I see a case here, especially for Malema?
He is young, disadvantaged etc etc. He received power, abused it, stole, lives lavishley and has fallen from grace.
Perhaps he should attend the same programme as the rugby players to teach him how to deal with fame & money.
LOL – I am picturing it. Within a week our rugby players will be shouting at the referee : thats racist!. Dont come here with your referee tendencies…
18 Dec 2011, 12:54 pm
so many well to do commentators on the moral fiber of human attributes of dignity and esteem.
Oh how fortunate are the well endowed and the brave, their lot in life was surely self earned.
Here we go I’ll hearken ye back to the wisdom of the folk singers of the early sixties, and no, wasn’t our lady of the light Joan d’Arc Baez who wrote it, was one other by name of Phil Ochs, a straight laced unassuming well to do right side of the tracks born and bred New York folk singer/songwriter.
Show me the prison, show me the jail, show me the prisoner who’s life has gone stale, and I’ll show you young man with so many reasons why.
There but for fortune go you or I
Show me the alley show me the drain, show me the hobo who sleeps out in the rain, and I’ll show you young man with so many reasons why.
There but for fortune go you or I
18 Dec 2011, 13:04 pm
Jake White was so sh’t scared of Luke Watson upstaging his little enclosed enclave of backslappers that he used Solly Tiyabalika purely as a pawn in his self preserving game. That’s how it cut and that’s how it shaked down at the end of it..
White was as instrumental as anyone at creating dissipated ideals out of peoples fired up ambitions playing the fake transformer game for the sake of self styled fame and fortunes, the pawns ultimately are the ones to be sacrificial lambs at the alter of others status quo preservation.
18 Dec 2011, 13:17 pm
@ashampoopaloo-118:
If no one had given me a second chance, (many a time)……………………………………………..there go I.
18 Dec 2011, 13:27 pm
@cane-120:
There you go brudda cane .., is only us fortunate well wisened children of the sixties who understand the vagaries and fortuitousness of being given the chance to know the difference between fate and fame and fortunes
18 Dec 2011, 13:41 pm
@ashampoopaloo-119:
Pretty much that all it ever was about Solly T; used by JW to deflect pressure to includ LW, the guy never merit test inclusion based on his own rugby and he hasn’t been the only one in this regard though.
18 Dec 2011, 14:15 pm
@Hondo-122: Solly was a very good player at his height. He outplayed ol’ George Smith. He merited selection. The problem was that he never received the support received by white players.
@ashampoopaloo-121: What an insult to those younger who have struggled to provide themselves and their families with either enough food to live or a decent standard of living.
18 Dec 2011, 14:54 pm
you wanna take it as an insult suit yourself, if you unable even to appreciate or at least acknowledge a little bit of sixty something tongue in cheek lashing of sarcastic facetiousness then you obviously one them lily livered lil dumplings that got a chosen churchified charity of cheering chipped cliches the size of Krakatoa on your lily lamented shoulders
18 Dec 2011, 15:17 pm
@ashampoopaloo-124: I take whatever someone with a shampoo fetus in their nicname with a pinch of salt
18 Dec 2011, 15:18 pm
@Michael-125: I take whatever someone with a shampoo fetus in their nickname says with a pinch of salt.
18 Dec 2011, 15:29 pm
this time hondo is correct, Solly was used by White to avoid Watson at all costs, he even said as much in the media when he intimated Solly was a transformation choice ahead of Watson at the time.
As capable and talented as Solly might have been in a correctly framed context within the team dynamic under more wholesome circumstances, he was simply used as a pawn in White’s instinctual self preservation game at a time when the imminent inclusion of Watson was staring him blindly in the face, which he could not and cowardly refused to accept or do.
18 Dec 2011, 16:32 pm
@ashampoopaloo-127: Yeah he was used as a prawn. The sad thing though is that Solly was the better player. It was messed up with tragic consequences.
18 Dec 2011, 17:02 pm
Have to have a chuckle at the bleeding souls lamenting the socially disadvantaged Solly…
How about this:
RIP Solly the Rugby Player. This is the total extent most of us knew him.
Not the first sportsman or rugger bugger to go off the rails… and certainly not the last…
The rest is absolute hypocritical lilly liberal bleeding codswallop.
18 Dec 2011, 17:07 pm
RIP Gerbrand Grobler
and
RIP Ettiene Botha too…
This ain’t a black thang is it?
18 Dec 2011, 17:43 pm
@Heavens Game-130: ’cause a car death is the same as being shot in the black & white world of conservatism
18 Dec 2011, 19:34 pm
@Michael-131: To Kill a Mockingbird… or Death of a Rugby Player?
But you probably don’t get that…
18 Dec 2011, 20:18 pm
Oh dear oh dear the JW arsecreep club won’t have any of this sullying their hail hero fake saints name
JW fckd both Solly and LW over in the same fell move, when it was high time Watson got the call up he pulled in Solly instead and then a few weeks later called him a transformation guinea pig, when what he was supposed to do was call up LW into the squad but poor little fakearse Jake didn’t have either the balls nor the gumption to do the correct thing, so he fckd up 2 careers instead of none…
White lost 49-0 to Australia with the following players, and then one wonders what kind of agenda actually played out with the Tyabalika / Watson ring around the rosemary bush saga.
0-49 Springboks: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynard Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Jaco van der Westhuyzen, 9 Ricky Januarie; 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Joe van Niekerk, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 Eddie Andrews, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Jacques Cronje, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Meyer Bosman, 22 Breyton Paulse.
18 Dec 2011, 20:23 pm
Ollie,
Which 15 players did he win the RWC final with? You keep forgetting that?
18 Dec 2011, 20:25 pm
In that 49-0 loss to the Aussies – what a kak loose combination however.
18 Dec 2011, 20:36 pm
lucky packet WC winning Boks 2007 5 penalties to 2 against 7th ranked England in a dour dreary non eventful match almost same side that lost 49-0 to Aussie 16 months before
Springboks: South Africa
Percy Montgomery, JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, François Steyn, Bryan Habana
Butch James, Fourie du Preez
Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger
Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha
CJ van der Linde John Smit (c) Os du Randt
Replacements:
16 Bismarck du Plessis 72′ 77′
17 Jannie du Plessis
18 Johannes Muller
19 Wickus van Heerden 72′
20 Ruan Pienaar
21 Andre Pretorius
22 Wynand Olivier
18 Dec 2011, 20:43 pm
here the stats for that kaksleg non eventful game where Boks starved 7th ranked England out the 2007 final
Turnovers: Eng 4 - SA 4
Tackles:
(made/attempts) 77/88 81/97
Line breaks: 1 1
Possession: Eng 55% - SA 45%
Territory: Eng 57% - SA 43%
Time in opp. 22: Eng. 6′ 48″ - SA 3′ 22″
Possession kicked:
(in play/touch/errors) Eng 44 (34/10/0)- SA 48 (28/18/2)
Pens conceded: Eng 7 - SA 5
No wonder rugby had to change the JW play without the ball defense wins games strategy was as ou doos as a penny farthing bicycle without any handlebars
18 Dec 2011, 20:47 pm
@Heavens Game-132: Hey, if it makes sense to your conservative way of life…
18 Dec 2011, 20:48 pm
@ashampoopaloo-137: Who would be your choice as head coach out of the candidates mentioned as being on the shortlist?
18 Dec 2011, 20:56 pm
My candidates for bok coach
1. Ewen Mckenzie
2. John Mitchell
3. Brendan Venter
4. Paul Treu
6. Carel Dup
Out of the listed candidates
AC – Smal – Rassie – Meyer
Its much of a muchness – neither inspire me with much confidence I fear more of the same old same old conservative chicken arsed rugby gonna nail Boks to the same old crucifix again and again and again…
18 Dec 2011, 20:56 pm
Amazing that the England team beat the mighty aussies who beat the boks 49-0.
18 Dec 2011, 20:58 pm
Amazing that the. Lowly ranked England team beat the mighty aussies who beat the boks 49-0. What a beautiful game we follow.
I don’t think you can fluke a rwc. All you can do is win 7 games on the trot. Not your fault if the other teams cannot do that.
18 Dec 2011, 21:02 pm
I would love Carel Du Plessis to return!
18 Dec 2011, 21:03 pm
@ashampoopaloo-140: One thing you and I agree on is that Carel dup should have never been fired.
I think Smal will be the less conservative out of the candidates said to be on the shortlist. Otherwise, Mallett.
18 Dec 2011, 21:04 pm
@BULLET-143: Smal as head and Carel as backline would be an awesome combo.
18 Dec 2011, 21:04 pm
@Michael-138: Hey, what’s a “conservative way of life”?
Is that like “Transformation”…. warm, fuzzy and not very well defined?
Or is it just a PC comfort blanket…?
Not that you would get that either…
18 Dec 2011, 21:06 pm
@ashampoopaloo-137: Actually I recko you are so Jakebefok, you couldn’t see the white from the tree’s if one fell on your peanut sized head…
18 Dec 2011, 21:06 pm
RWC is a rigged business – a setup in other words.. all you gotta do is see how NZ and France played out to a referee orchestrated setup to know that rugby is long gone down the rigged money racketeer or sentiment befuddled highway same as most rigged sports where it ain’t about the best beating the best on any even playing fields no more…
2007 was a lucky packet win same as 2011 was, though Boks were possibly most conditioned for the occasion and it fell square in their lap once Barnes put France through vs NZ
18 Dec 2011, 21:08 pm
@Michael-144: “One thing you and I agree on is that Carel dup should have never been fired.”
And that is why I am pretty certain readers don’t peruse either of your posts for the fount of rugby knowledge…
Here’s a smiley
18 Dec 2011, 21:12 pm
@TheTackler-112: You know what Tackler? A pretty damn good post…
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