Secret behind South Africans’ love affair with French rugby
Oct 25, 2020
3 minutes
MARK KEOHANE
EPA-EFE
AN old Bishops boy, Eric Melville, arrived in France as a 19 year old and became the first South African to play for France.
Since the late Melville, who died aged 56 in 2017, 10 South African-born players have represented France.
This weekend, Bernard le Roux and Paul Willemse were the second-row pairing against Wales in the Six Nations. Both were born and schooled in South Africa. Both went to France for the money,
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