Henry Honiball

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Henry Honiball
Birth nameHenry William Honiball
Date of birth (1965-12-01) 1 December 1965 (age 58)
Place of birthEstcourt, South Africa
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight98 kg (216 lb; 15 st 6 lb)
SchoolEstcourt High School
UniversityUniversity of the Free State
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Centre
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1999–2000 Bristol 13 (178)
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1989–1991 Free State 38 ()
1992–1999 Sharks (Currie Cup) 111 ()
Super Rugby
Years Team Apps (Points)
1996–1999 Sharks ? (356)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1993–1999 South Africa 35 (156)
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
1994 South Africa 1

Henry William Honiball (born 1 December 1965) is a South African former professional rugby union footballer.[1] He usually played at fly-half and sometimes as a centre.

Honiball played for Free State early in his career, but is best known for his time with Natal and the Sharks. Towards the end of his career he had a spell with English club Bristol. He won 35 caps for South Africa from 1993 to 1999, during the early post-apartheid era.

Biography[edit]

Honiball had a very expansive running game which brought the loose-forwards into the game quickly.[2] He was also very tall for a fly-half and extremely physical, being a strong tackler and not afraid to take the ball and challenge the opposition.[3] He earned his nickname of 'Lem', which is Afrikaans for 'blade', for his ability to 'cut' through his opponent's defence.[4] Paired in the halves with Joost van der Westhuizen, Honiball was an integral part of Nick Mallett's legendary Springbok squad which equalled the record of 17 consecutive Test victories, a record shared with New Zealand. Honiball played in 14 of the 17 victories, which included the clean sweep of the 1998 Tri Nations Series, the Springboks' first-ever series victory. Such was his reading, distribution and tactical knowledge of the game that he had an enviable Springbok success rate of nearly 75 per cent.

He made his debut in 1993 against the Wallabies in Sydney, coming on as a replacement. Although South Africa lost the match 19–12, Honiball was also a member of the South African team that mauled Australia 61–22 during the 1997 Tri Nations tournament, (which was only replaced on 30 August 2008 with a 53–8 win to South Africa in Johannesburg during the 2008 Tri Nations Series) as Australia's heaviest ever defeat.[5] However, in the aftermath of the record-equalling streak, Honiball was understood to have been affected by the sensational axing of captain and close friend Gary Teichmann.[6] After the Springboks struggled to find their rhythm in the following year's Tri Nations tournament, Mallett had considered recalling Honiball for the match against New Zealand in Pretoria. He had only just returned from serious injury and was playing well for club side Natal, but revealed that he had suffered an ankle injury, so Mallett sent him to see a specialist in Johannesburg.[6] Honiball retired from international rugby after the Springboks beat New Zealand in the 1999 Rugby World Cup third/fourth place play-off.

After the World Cup, he played one season for Bristol, amassing 283 points before a serious neck injury forced him to retire.[7]

Test history[edit]

No. Opposition Result (SA 1st) Position Points Date Venue
1.  Australia 12–19 Replacement 21 August 1993 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
2.  Argentina 52–23 Fly-half 13 November 1993 Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
3.  Samoa 60–8 Replacement 13 April 1995 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
4.  Fiji 43–18 Fly-half 10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties) 2 July 1996 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
5.  Australia 16–21 Fly-half 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) 13 July 1996 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
6.  New Zealand 32–22 Fly-half 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) 31 August 1996 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
7.  Argentina 46–15 Fly-half 9 (3 conversions, 1 penalty) 9 November 1996 Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
8.  Argentina 44–21 Fly-half 14 (4 conversions, 2 penalties) 16 November 1996 Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
9.  France 22–12 Fly-half 12 (4 penalties) 30 November 1996 Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
10.  France 13–12 Fly-half 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) 7 December 1996 Parc des Princes, Paris
11.  Wales 37–20 Fly-half 10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties) 15 December 1996 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
12.  Tonga 74–10 Fly-half 10 June 1997 Newlands, Cape Town
13.  British Lions 16–25 Fly-half 3 (1 penalty) 21 June 1997 Newlands, Cape Town
14.  British Lions 15–18 Fly-half 28 June 1997 Kings Park Stadium, Durban
15.  British Lions 35–16 Replacement 2 (1 conversion) 5 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
16.  New Zealand 32–35 Replacement 19 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
17.  Australia 20–32 Replacement 2 August 1997 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18.  New Zealand 35–55 Centre 4 (2 conversions) 9 August 1997 Eden Park, Auckland
19.  Australia 61–22 Centre 23 August 1997 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
20.  Italy 62–31 Fly-half 17 (7 conversions, 1 penalty) 8 November 1997 Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna
21.  France 36–32 Fly-half 11 (4 conversions, 1 penalty) 15 November 1997 Stade de Gerland, Lyon
22.  France 52–10 Fly-half 22 (1 try, 7 conversions, 1 penalty) 22 November 1997 Parc des Princes, Paris
23.  England 29–11 Fly-half 7 (2 conversions, 1 penalty) 29 November 1997 Twickenham, London
24.  Wales 96–13 Replacement 27 June 1998 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
25.  England 18–0 Fly-half 4 July 1998 Newlands, Cape Town
26.  Australia 14–13 Fly-half 18 July 1998 Subiaco Oval, Perth
27.  New Zealand 13–3 Fly-half 25 July 1998 Athletic Park, Wellington
28.  New Zealand 24–23 Fly-half 15 August 1998 Kings Park, Durban
29.  Australia 29–15 Fly-half 29 August 1998 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
30.  Wales 28–20 Fly-half 14 November 1998 Wembley, London
31.  Scotland 35–10 Fly-half 21 November 1998 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
32.  Ireland 27–13 Fly-half 28 November 1998 Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin
33.  England 7–13 Fly-half 5 December 1998 Twickenham, London
34.  Australia 21–27 Replacement 30 October 1999 Twickenham, London
35.  New Zealand 22–18 Fly-half 11 (1 conversion, 3 penalties) 4 November 1999 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Henry Honiball". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ "page 24". Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
  3. ^ BBC News | South Africa | Key player: Henry Honiball
  4. ^ Sharks Rugby[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Henry Honiball - South Africa Rugby Player - Rugby-Heroes.net
  6. ^ a b Gray, Wynne (30 June 2000). "Rugby: Bok hopes dive with Honiball in doubt". New Zealand Herald.
  7. ^ BBC SPORT | RUGBY UNION | Honiball retires from game

External links[edit]

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