Danie Craven

Danie Craven

Danie Craven in the team photo of the 1937
Full name	Daniël Hartman Craven
Date of birth	1910-10-11
Place of birth	Lindley, Free State, South Africa
Date of death	1993-01-04
Place of death	Stellenbosch, South Africa
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Scrum-half
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1931–1938	South Africa	16	(6)
correct as of 2007-11-02.

Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 - 4 January 1993), more famously known as Danie Craven or simply Doc Craven, is a former Western Province, Eastern Province, Northern Transvaal and Springbok rugby union player as well as arguably South Africa's best and best-known rugby administrator. He also coached the Springboks between 1949 and 1956, becoming one of the most successful Springbok coaches of all time.

Personal life

He was born in Lindley, Free State province, South Africa and attended the Lindley High School there. Later he studied at Stellenbosch University in the Western Province where he received his Doctorate and eventually also lectured, and played for the Western Province rugby union team.

He married twice and had four children.^[1]

During his stay at Stellenbosch he became the residence principle of Wilgenhof.

Celebration of 100 year Anniversary of Doc Danie Craven - held at Wilgenhof mens residence in Stellenbosch.

Career

He played his first test match on 5 December 1931 (as scrum half) at the age of 21 against Wales at St Helens, Swansea. His last test match was on 10 September 1938 as captain (also as scrum half) at the age of 27 against the British Lions at Newlands, Cape Town. During the 1930s he was one of the world's leading scrumhalves, but the start of the Second World War in 1939 probably ended his career prematurely.

Danie Craven joined the defence force in 1938. During the Second World War an advertisement was later placed in Afrikaans language newspapers to attract men to join the Union Defence Force. It showed Danie Craven in his uniform, looking into the distance and announcing, 'I am playing in the biggest Springbok team ever; join me and score the most important try of your life.'^[2]

After his rugby-playing career ended, he became a national selector until he was appointed coach in 1949. He started his coaching career with a bang, winning 10 matches in a row, including a 4-0 whitewash of New Zealand in their 1949 tour to South Africa, and leaving the Springboks undefeated from 1949 to 1952. Under his guidance the Springboks played 23 tests, winning 17 (73%), an achievement that makes him one of South Africa's greatest coaches in history.

Craven became the president of the South African Rugby Board (SARB) in 1956. He was also a member of the International Rugby Board was its chairman on several occasions.

Statue to Danie Craven at Coetzenburg in Stellenbosch.

The last part of Craven's chairmanship of the SARB occurred during the country's most tumultuous years. Rugby had become the national sport of white South Africans and a symbol of Afrikaner power. In the 1970s and 1980s, the outlawed African National Congress allied with overseas anti-apartheid movements succeeded in getting South Africa isolated from sporting contact with the rest of the world. Of all the sanctions aimed at South Africa, none upset the white population more than the ban on rugby internationals. In 1988, in a bold bid to return to global competition, Craven met leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) in Zimbabwe and entered an unprecedented deal to form a single rugby association fielding an integrated team for foreign tournaments. Many right-wing whites in South Africa attacked Craven for meeting with the ANC which they regarded as treason, and then-president P.W. Botha denounced the move.^[3] Although the deal did not lead to the immediate end of the sporting isolation, it paved the way for the formation of the unified body, the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) in 1992, with Craven as its first chairman, until he died in 1993, having served for an unbroken 37 years at the head of the sport.

Danie Craven was accepted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) in 1997, the first of 9 South Africans to date.^[4]

In 2007 Doc Craven became the third inductee into the IRB Hall of Fame, only preceded by Rugby School and William Webb Ellis, the alleged inventor of Rugby.

The South African Craven Week schools rugby competition is named after him, as well as the Danie Craven Stadium and Danie Craven Rugby Museum in Stellenbosch.

Doc Craven also had a dog named "Bliksem" (Afrikaans for "rascal") who is also depicted at his statue in Stellenbosch.

Doc Craven also said "When Maties and Western Province rugby are strong, then Springbok rugby is strong."

References

1. ^ Jani Allan (1980s). Face Value. Longstreet. 
2. ^ Grundlingh, Albert (1999). "The King's Afrikaners? Enlistment and Ethnic Identity in the Union of South Africa's Defence Force during the Second World War, 1939-45". The Journal of African History 40 (3): 351–365. JSTOR 183618. 
3. ^ "World Notes: South Africa." Time Magazine, Monday, Oct. 31, 1988.
4. ^ Crawford, Scott A.G.M. (1996). "New Zealand rugby museum". Journal of Sport History 23 (3): 338–340. http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1996/JSH2303/jsh2303m.pdf. 

Bliksem means lightning in Afrikaans and not rascal (bliksem straal = lightning bolt)

External links

• "Danie Craven". nzhistory.net.nz. 2007-10-23. http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/danie-craven. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
• "Huge IRB honour for Craven". rugbyrugby.com. 2007-11-07. http://www.rugbyrugby.com/tournaments/rugby_world_cup/story_71107140200.php. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
• Davies, Sean (2007-11-07). "Mighty Boks: South African rugby". bbc.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/rugby_union/5388786.stm. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
• "Danie Craven". rugbyhalloffame.com. http://www.rugbyhalloffame.com/pages/craven1997.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 

Persondata
Name	Danie Craven
Alternative names	Daniël Hartman Craven, Doc Craven
Short description	South African rugby union footballer and administrator.
Date of birth	11 October 1910
Place of birth	Lindley, Free State, South Africa
Date of death	4 January 1993
Place of death	Stellenbosch, South Africa