Rugby museum brings captains together

Current Springbok captain Jean de Villiers will be in attendance, as will modern legends Francois Pienaar and Joost van der Westhuizen. Des van Jaarsveldt, at 83 years of age, the oldest living Bok skipper, will be there too.

Austen van Heerden, the oldest living captain of the former South African Coloured Rugby Football Board, who led led the team in 1961, will be in attendance, as will "Bomza" Nkhola, the oldest surviving captain of the South African African Rugby Board, and Salie Fredericks, the captain of the first Saru team in 1968.

Handprints

The captains' handprints will be captured in special moulds in a public ceremony at the amphitheatre at the V&A Waterfront (from 2pm).

The moulds will later be cast into bronze and installed as part of the new Springbok Experience rugby museum, which is due to open at the V&A Waterfront in September.

Story

The Experience will tell the story of rugby in South Africa from the 1860s. As well as the "traditional" Springbok story, the spotlight will be turned on the story of black rugby, prior to the creation of what is now the South African Rugby Union (Saru) in 1992.

The facility, which is set to provide an eye-opening contrast to traditional museums, will feature a modern, interactive rugby museum, Springbok shop and "Springbok Trials" rugby skills zone and will replace Saru's former museum in Boundary Road, Newlands.

'Once-in-a-lifetime'

"We have had a tremendous response from the captains for what will be a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Oregan Hoskins, president of the South African Rugby Union.

"The Springbok Experience will tell their story and of the teams they captained. By capturing their handprints for posterity we will have a permanent record that those players passed this way, one that rugby followers can literally touch.

"It will be a very special occasion, to have more than 40 national captains assembled in one place, and one that will never be repeated."

Ceremony

The public ceremony starts at 2pm when the oldest living captain, Des van Jaarsveldt, will be asked to provide his handprints, right the way through to Jean de Villier, the most recent national captain, as well as the trailblazing captain of the Springbok women's team Nomsebenzi Tsotsobe.

The full list of confirmed captains, in historical order, is as follows:

Des van Jaarsveldt, Avril Malan, Austen van Heerden, Abie Malan, Ebrahim Rinquest, Nelie Smith, John Bekkers, Dawie de Villiers, Welile "Bomza" Nkhola, Salie Fredericks, Norman Mbiko, Hannes Marais, Dougie Dyers, Piet Greyling, Liston Ntshongwana, Thompson Magxala, Cassiem Jabaar, Jack Juries, Peter Jooste, Theuns Stofberg, Wynand Claassen, Julian Smith, Randy Marinus, Divan Serfontein, Naas Botha, Peter Slabbert, Fagmie Solomons, Jannie Breedt, Allister Coetzee, Francois Pienaar, Tiaan Strauss, Adriaan Richter, Gary Teichmann, Corné Krige, Rassie Erasmus, Joost van der Westhuizen, Andre Vos, Bobby Skinstad, Nomsebenzi Tsotsobe, Mandisa Williams, Ingrid Botha, Jean de Villiers