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Breaking down barriers Fynn set to become South Africa's first black forward
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- Even before the death of apartheid in South African life, new Springbok test cap Etienne Fynn was breaking down barriers. In 1990 the tighthead prop became the first black player to be selected for the South African Schools XV -- a few months before Nelson Mandela was released from prison. And on Wednesday when he was selected in the starting XV for Saturday's test against France he added another significant footnote to the history of the transformation of the once exclusively white face of South African rugby. He became the first black Springbok test forward. "I only became aware of that fact yesterday afternoon," said Fynn. "I would be naive not to be aware of the pressures and the weight of expectation that comes with that. "But first and foremost I am a rugby player and my main aim on Saturday is to play for my country to the best of my ability." Also in the team is Breyton Paulse -- one of nine black players to have appeared in Springbok test backlines -- while uncapped 21-year-old black utility back Conrad Jantjes will become the 10th when he makes his expected appearance from the bench. Rocky road Fynn's selection as the first black forward marks the 28-year-old's arrival at the end of a long and rocky road since he was picked for the national schools team as a 17-year-old. He did not make his senior debut until 1998 as question marks over his attitude dogged him until Rudolf Straeuli was appointed coach of the Natal Sharks in the second half of 2000. By the end of the Currie Cup campaign -- in which provincial sides have to fulfil a quota of two black players per team -- Fynn had established himself in the Natal front row. Straeuli emphatically dispelled any assumptions that the player was a token selection in this year's Super 12. Straeuli routinely exceeded the unwritten quota of one black player in the XV by picking Fynn amongst three black players with whom he regularly started. Fynn was the Sharks' starting tighthead in their run to second place in the standings and a losing final against the ACT Brumbies. "People didn't think I took my rugby seriously enough and that I was just playing for fun," he said. "I played a couple of months in Chicago in America and played for some South African age group teams but I was still having fun playing rugby. "Rudolf Straeuli gave me the opportunity and showed confidence in me. I think he was aware of what I could do." But it is to his parents that Fynn ultimately says he owes a debt he will never be able to repay. His boilermaker father Theuns and schoolteacher mother Marie "really made sacrifices" to pay for their only child to go to an exclusive, largely white, rugby-playing school in Durban. "I went there for five years and only started playing rugby when I was 12 -- and that was because I had to," says Fynn. "I'd been a soccer player up until then but I took to rugby very quickly and have always been a prop. If my parents hadn't saved to send me to that school I probably wouldn't be here today."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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