Corné Krige
Encyclopedia
Cornelius Petrus Johannes "Corné" Krige (born 21 March 1975 in Lusaka
Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...

, Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

) was a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer, now retired, who played flanker for Western Province in the Currie Cup
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

, the Stormers
Stormers
The Stormers, for sponsorship reasons referred to as DHL Stormers, are a South African rugby union team based in Cape Town competing in the Super Rugby competition . Despite their lack of silverware over the years, their home stadium, Newlands, typically draws the highest average attendance figures...

 in Super Rugby
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...

 and captained the South African national side, the Springboks
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

.

Career

Corne Krige was Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

n-born and his parents still reside in that country, but he was schooled in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 at Paarl Boys' High School
Paarl Boys' High School
Boys' High School, known in Afrikaans as Hoër Jongenskool Paarl is one of the oldest schools in South Africa. Built in 1868 the school's rich history is filled with tradition and pride. The school is situated at the heart of Paarl, a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa...

, about 60 km from Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

. He played most of his rugby for South African teams, and resides in that country.

Krige's Test debut came in 1999 after recovering from career-threatening knee and hand injuries. He captained the Springboks on his test debut in a 101-0 victory over Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

 in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

; unfortunately two weeks later he suffered another serious knee injury against the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

 which ended his hopes of captaining the Springboks at the 1999 Rugby World Cup
1999 Rugby World Cup
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...

 in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Krige appeared in 39 tests for South Africa, became the full-time captain in 2002, and captained the Boks 18 times in all before his international retirement in January 2004.

Never one to shy away from dirty play, he was the subject of controversy after the November 2002 Test against England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 at Twickenham
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...

 that saw England hand the Boks the worst defeat in their history (53-3). During the match, an increasingly frustrated South Africa side began targeting England players with physical off-the-ball attacks, and match footage showed Krige as the leader. His Super Rugby career then ended several weeks early when he was handed an eight-week ban for head-butting an opponent in 2004
2004 Super 12 season
The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals,...

.

He finished his career in the English Premiership
Guinness Premiership
The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership...

 with Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....

, signing for the 2004-05 season. He retired at the end of that season and returned to Cape Town to pursue outside business interests. Krige would make one more high-profile appearance on a rugby field, captaining a Western Province XV against a World XV
World XV
A World XV is a rugby union team, typically composed of invited players from various countries. Various World XVs have been arranged from time to time, often to take part in celebration and testimonial games, usually against national teams; recent World XV games have generally not been considered...

 in his testimonial
Testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honour of a player for service to the club....

 at Newlands
Newlands Stadium
Newlands Stadium, currently referred to as DHL Newlands for sponsorship reasons, is located in Cape Town, South Africa.The stadium currently has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all seater venue....

 on 9 June 2006. The testimonial highly benefited Reach For A Dream, a charity similar to and inspired by the Make-A-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The World XV won 49-31 in an entertaining match that saw 12 tries in all.

Krige and former Springbok teammates Bobby Skinstad
Bobby Skinstad
Robert Brian Skinstad is a Zimbabwean-born South African rugby union player who has represented the national team, the Springboks, 42 times, scoring 55 points . He played in the positions of flanker and number eight...

 and Robbie Fleck
Robbie Fleck
Robert Frank Fleck better known as Robbie is a former rugby union footballer who played at centre for South Africa....

 were business partners, owning Billie the B.U.M.S. Restaurant and a Cocktail Bar in Newlands. The restaurant has since closed.

When the Boks played the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 Wallabies
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

 during the later years of Krige's captaincy, he and Wallabies captain George Gregan
George Gregan
George Musarurwa Gregan AM is an Australian rugby union halfback who has made more appearances for his national team than any other player in the sport's history....

 shared an unusual distinction: both were born in the same hospital.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK