Six Rugby Players and a Drag Queen

When I was writing for the WP Rugby in 2016 there were six direct descendants of former Springboks in the Stormers 44-man squad.

Schalk Burger, Jean Luc du Plessis, Daniël du Plessis, Robert du Preez, Oli Kebble and Pieter-Steph du Toit all had Bok pedigree.

It read like the book of Genesis. Jean Luc and Daniël du Plessis were cousins whose fathers both represented the Springboks. Robert du Preez was the son of former Springbok scrumhalf Robert du Preez. Du Preez also had two twin brothers Dan and Jean Luc du Preez who were at the Sharks in Durban.

Flyhalf Jean Luc du Plessis’ dad was Carel du Plessis, a former Springbok coach and player whose pace and silky skills earned him the nickname the “Prince of Wings”.  Centre Daniël du Plessis was the son of former Bok centre Michael du Plessis.

Loosehead prop Oli Kebble’s father Guy Kebble played prop for South Africa. Stormers and Springbok veteran Schalk Burger’s father of the same name was a Springbok lock. Pieter-Steph du Toit’s grandfather Piet du Toit played prop for the South Africa.

These six players represented 13.6% of the Stormers squad. This was an incredibly high proportion considering Super Rugby players made 0.001% slither of the South African male population. There was no doubt that being bred from Springbok stock increased a player's chances at the top level.

With an interest in the genetics I wanted to explore this further.

Five of the six players were of Afrikaans descent. The Afrikaners were a founder population. This resulted in lower genetic variance in the population.

They had also gone through genetic bottleneck's. A genetic bottleneck is a phenomenon where a population experiences an partial extinction event. The remaining individuals are those that have traits which enable them to survive.

The Great Trek and the Anglo-Boer wars selected the fittest humans. In genetics fittest doesn't mean the person who can run an ultra-marathon, crush iron-man or dominate cross-fit. The fittest can be anything- big, small, brave, scared, resourceful, whatever it takes to survive that environment.

The WP Magazine was a corporate beast with tight bureaucratic reigns. I was never allowed to say a small colony of Dutch settlers had been built tough. Just like  in portrayed in the Toyota Hilux adverts.

It all sounded a bit too much like Hitler's blue-eyed and blonde super-humans.

Eugenics was a topic littered with social landmines. It wasn't just about science. It was about politics and feelings.

Kenyan dominance of long-distance and Jamaican dominance of sprinting was allowed. Big strong fast Afrikaaners was taboo.

I had to find other examples in International rugby. Ones that were less close to home.

During my research while looking for other examples I came across the remarkable Tuilagi brothers from the Independent State of Samoa.

These were six individuals playing international rugby that descended from the same parents. On their best day Alesana, Anitelea, Freddie, Henry and Sanele made up a third of the Samoan starting XV while brother Manu played for England. 

The Tuilagi brother's physical prowess was more than just a product of their parents. They hailed from the Polynesian Islands of the Pacific. Like the Dutch settlers in South Africa, these Islands had founder populations.

All Blacks Julian Savea, Sonny Bill Williams and Ma’a Nonu were also of Samoan descent. Three of the greatest outside backs of all time descending from a population of 200 000.

Another of those small islands, Fiji had a population of 900 000 people. They produced big, fast rugby players conducive to Sevens Rugby. Out of the first six Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments the flying Fijians won two and made the semi-finals on three other occasions.

The fearsome Maori warriors, the Big Somaons, the Flying Fijians. Commentators said these expressions all the time. But not for Afrikaners. When it was white people it all started to get a little uncomfortable.

It was never about portraying any population as a superior race. There was an abnormally high frequency of the gene that causes Huntington’s disease within the Afrikaans population. It was just genetics.

I should have been allowed to say Afrikaners make extraordinary rugby players because of their size and speed. Usain Bolts six foot five frame with extraordinary muscle to mass ratio for his size. Caster Semenya's high levels of testosterone. Michael Phelp's flipper feat. And a family with six brother's who all played test rugby. You could not become the best in the world without freakish genes.

The talent can be nurtured but it all started in their DNA.

If you came here for the title. Here's the punchline.

There were actually seven Tuilagi brothers. Not anymore. Olotuli Tuilagi is now their sister Julie who is a drag queen.

In genetics there is always variation that makes life interesting.

Now sit back and watch this clip of the awesome Tuilagi brothers.