Same colours - different country

By CHRIS RATTUE

Crime and a rugby quota system helped drive Clyde Rathbone out of South Africa and into Australia's welcoming arms.

And while team-mates believed he was on the verge of returning to his homeland when the chequebook-waving Springboks came calling this year, Rathbone told the Herald from the Wallaby camp this week he was always fairly sure he would be staying in Australia.

It's a decision which has paid immediate dividends, as the 98kg wing has charged into the Wallaby starters and will face Joe Rokocoko and the All Blacks tonight in his first Tri-Nations test.

Durban-born Rathbone, who turns 23 next week, is a rising star of world rugby.

He is powerful, especially in the thighs, quick, and a reader of the game.

The Wallabies consider him versatile enough to be a test centre, where he started for the injured Stirling Mortlock against Scotland and trains extensively in their set-up.

The Brumbies even tried him at second five-eighths in trials.

Some of his exceptional strength - fellow Brumbies call him "Rhino" - stems from the weightlifting he started at 13 through the encouragement of his father and weightlifter grandfather.

It has given him power and pace, and he even outstrips his leaner Wallaby mates Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and Chris Latham in 40m sprints.

Wallaby mates ... that's the really surprising part of the Rathbone story.

Rathbone grew up steeped in the Springbok traditions, thanks largely to his "rugby nut" grandfather Andrew Oliver, a South African weightlifting champion.

He regaled the youngster with tales of Springbok heroics and showed videos of great games when Rathbone visited his strawberry and avocado farm near Pietermaritzburg, in the Natal midlands.

One room was lined with videos of matches, from as early as the 1960s. Moves and tactics were recorded. Rathbone's grandfather even packed up a box of tapes for his Canberra home.

His grandmother, Violet Rathbone, had just as big an influence.

Her father, a World War I soldier, was Australian-born but also lived in South Africa. Violet was born in Australia, and that, under IRB rules, qualified Rathbone to play for the Wallabies.

Rathbone, playing at centre, captained the South African Colts to the under-21 world title and had been destined for stardom in South African rugby.

But after a few games for the Sharks in 2002, he was Australia-bound.

A week of reconnaissance in Canberra did the trick, and Rathbone signed for the Brumbies, leading to calls of "traitor" when he returned to South Africa for Super 12 games last year.

"You couldn't print some of the things that were said when I played in Pretoria and Cape Town ... it was pretty hostile and childish. My mates and I found it amusing," he has said.

Rathbone had other significant support. His grandfather was, he says, the most vocal family member in supporting his move.

South Africa was "fantastic" in some respects, but Rathbone did not shy away from why he and partner Carrie-Ann Leeson have made Australia home.

His parents - great supporters of his career - also want to settle there.

Team quotas for black and coloured players in all levels of South African rugby were a major frustration. Even if they did not exist officially, they lingered in an unofficial way, he said.

He believed in thorough integration by giving black players opportunities from the bottom up.

"I'm quite happy to play with 14 black team-mates," he said.

"You have to believe in what you are part of and I didn't want to be part of what was happening in South African rugby.

"You always had the feeling you were carrying a player here or there who didn't deserve to be there on merit. That's not good for a team environment, and it's not good for those players either.

"It must start at the beginning with the proper development of all players at lower levels. Let's give these black guys opportunities when they're young ... get them exposure to good coaching, nutrition etc instead of chucking them in.

"Then matters will take care of themselves. The political interference was definitely to the detriment of the game."

Most players with dual eligibility - he named Mike Catt, Stuart Abbott, Matt Stevens (England) and Dan Vickerman (Australia) - had also chosen to leave and others played in Europe.

"That's got to say something about the system," he said.

Soaring crime also influenced him.

"Personally, I was lucky in terms of that but you deal with it daily.

"I had two cars stolen and our house was broken into and my dad had a car stolen. I've got friends who have had car-jackings and been shot."

Rathbone was immediately impressed by the professional environment of Australian rugby although he had a rough start when groin injuries put him out of last year's Super 12 season.

He delivered on his promise, though, in the Super 12 this season.

The question now is whether a young man who had dedicated his life to becoming a Springbok will fire in a Wallaby jersey.

South Africa made a major play for Rathbone this year with a "very appealing" offer, and his respect for Springboks coach Jake White, his old mentor, had to be considered.

Mortlock, his club and country team-mate, told the Herald: "Clyde talked to a lot of senior guys when he was weighing up whether to stay in Australia, and with ACT as well.

"We're very thankful he stayed. There was a big push from South Africa. It did test him."

Rathbone says: "I would have been crazy not to consider it but we were always leaning towards Australia. I consider it my home now."

A hamstring injury to Wallaby wing Wendell Sailor in the warm-ups minutes before kickoff against England in Brisbane gave Rathbone a break and he grabbed his chance - helped by a familiar backline in which Tuqiri was the only non-Brumby - by scoring three tries.

So rather than fulfilling childhood dreams by wearing the Springboks jersey against the All Blacks, he will instead face them as a Wallaby.

And in a fortnight he should face the Springboks in Perth.

"You never know how you will feel in those circumstances until it happens," he says.

"I suppose it will be a bit strange ... if anyone in this situation told you differently they wouldn't be honest."


CLYDE RATHBONE

* Age 22

* Born: Durban

* Position: Centre/wing

* Height: 1.80m

* Weight: 98kg

* Test debut: v Scotland (2004)

* Tests: 4

* Super 12 games: 15 (Brumbies 12, Sharks 3)

* Teams: South African Schools, Natal under-21s, Natal, South African under-21s, Sharks, Brumbies, Wallabies.