Kitch Christie
Encyclopedia
George Moir Christie, better known as Kitch Christie (31 January 1940 – 22 April 1998), was a South Africa
n rugby union
coach best known for coaching the country's national team, the Springboks
, to victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup
. He remained unbeaten during his tenure as Springbok rugby coach between 1994 and 1996, including leading the team to a then record 14 consecutive victories. In 2011, he was inducted posthumously into the IRB Hall of Fame
, alongside all other Rugby World Cup
-winning head coaches and captains through the 2007 edition
.
to a Scottish
father and English
mother, he was educated at Leith Academy
in Edinburgh
and the London Institute of Electronics. He picked up his lifelong nickname of "Kitch" from his fellow pupils, who named him after Don Kitchenbrand, a South African footballer
with Rangers
in the 1950s.
club as a flanker. While his playing career was uneventful, it was during his time with the Harlequins that Christie began developing his coaching skills. It was the start of an enduring association with Quins—broken only by a spell as coach of the Glenwood Old Boys in Durban—during which he coached them to a number of trophies as well as serving as a Northern Transvaal selector.
In 1980, Christie spent the South African winter (Northern Hemisphere summer) in the United States
, coaching the Chicago Lions
club. Although he spent less than three months in Chicago
, he made a lasting impact on the club, leading them to the Midwest
regional crown.
In 1992, having been denied the opportunity to coach at Northern Transvaal, Christie accepted an offer from Louis Luyt
, then the president of the Transvaal union
, to take the reins there. Luyt would go on to play an important role in Christie's later career.
It was at Transvaal that Christie was to establish himself as one of the finest coaches in South African rugby, leading the team to one of their most successful periods in their history. Transvaal won back to back Currie Cup titles 1993 and 1994, their first wins in the competition since 1972, as well as winning the inaugural Super 10
title in 1993. In 1993, the team won all four of the competitions they entered (Currie Cup, Super 10, Lion Cup, M-NET Night Series). The team, with Francois Pienaar as captain, was to form the nucleus of the Christie's Springbok team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, providing 13 members to the Springbok squad.
. The Springboks coaching position became vacant in mid-1994, after Ian McIntosh
was sacked following a series defeat to the All Blacks
in New Zealand
. Luyt was convinced that Christie was the man to take over following his success at Transvaal, and in October 1994, Christie accepted the offer to take over from McIntosh.
Christie entered at what was arguably the most pressure-packed period in South African rugby history—the run-up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted by South Africa, and the first major competition for the Springboks after their return from international exile with the demise of apartheid. Christie had just nine months to transform the team into World Cup contenders.
Christie began his Springbok coaching career with back-to-back victories at home against in October 1994, followed by a successful tour to Europe in November 1994, when the team beat and .
After a comfortable victory in a World Cup warm-up game against Samoa in April 1995, the Boks were finally ready to challenge for the title at home. The World Cup campaign got off to a flying start, with the team defeating defending champions and pre-tournament favourites in the opening match in Cape Town
. Victory in this game would prove crucial, with Christie referring to it as allowing the team to take the "High Road" to the final, avoiding teams such as England and New Zealand until the final.
They went on to win their remaining pool matches, but not without a brutal game against in the final pool match. The Boks then defeated Manu Samoa
in the quarterfinals, and eked out a dramatic semifinal win over . South Africa's reward for defeating France would be a final with their old rival, the All Blacks, and their sensational wing Jonah Lomu
, who had set the tournament alight with his tries, including four in their semi-final against England.
The Boks defence stood up to the challenge, keeping Lomu off the scoreboard (in fact, he would never score a try against South Africa in his career). The match ended in a 9-9 draw in regulation, sending the teams to extra time, after which South Africa won 15-12. The victory on home soil in 1995 touched people far beyond rugby's normal constituency, and will be best remembered for Nelson Mandela, wearing the captain's No 6 shirt, embracing the captain Francois Pienaar after South Africa's victory, a scene recreated in the movie Invictus
.
Christie's final game in charge of the Springboks was a victory over England at Twickenham on a short tour in November 1995. By this time, his health had deteriorated from leukemia
, which he had been battling since 1979. Francois Pienaar, in his autobiography, recalled how Christie joined the team huddle and stood between Pienaar and James Dalton. "The usual end to such a Springboks huddle is for the players to squeeze each other and shout 'Bokke'," said Pienaar. "James and I squeezed the coach and discovered later we'd fractured two of his ribs. He never said a word."
In March 1996, Christie stepped down from the Springboks due to ill health and was replaced by Andre Markgraaf.
Christie coached the Boks in 14 tests between October 1994 and March 1996, winning all 14. At the time, this tied 1960s All Blacks coach Fred Allen's
record for the longest consecutive Test match winning streak for a coach. This record would later be broken by Boks coach Nick Mallett
.
Super 12
season. However, due to ill-health, he was unable to travel with the team to Australasia early in the season, and he was hospitalised a few weeks later after his condition took a turn for the worse. It was there that Christie experienced one of the lowest moments in his career when he was fired as coach by Northerns' president Hentie Serfontein while he lay in his hospital bed. Christie described this as being fired "like a dog".
By the end of 1997, his condition worsened to the point that he sought specialised treatment in the U.S. He was able to return to rugby as a technical adviser to the Falcons
in early 1998, but his condition worsened once more, entering the hospital for the final time on Easter Sunday
of 1998. Christie died on 22 April 1998, leaving his wife Judy of 19 years, their son Clayton, and his two daughters, Catherine and Caroline, from a previous marriage.
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...
coach best known for coaching the country's national team, 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...
, to victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup
1995 Rugby World Cup
The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
. He remained unbeaten during his tenure as Springbok rugby coach between 1994 and 1996, including leading the team to a then record 14 consecutive victories. In 2011, he was inducted posthumously into the IRB Hall of Fame
IRB Hall of Fame
The IRB Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Rugby Board that recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The IRB Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other individuals...
, alongside all other Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....
-winning head coaches and captains through the 2007 edition
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
.
Early life
Born in JohannesburgJohannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
to a Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
father and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
mother, he was educated at Leith Academy
Leith Academy
Leith Academy is a state school in Leith, Edinburgh. It currently educates around 1,000 pupils and around 2,800 part time adult learners.The former headteacher, Sandy Mcauley, resigned in 2008; Jack M Simpson was appointed headteacher in September 2008....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and the London Institute of Electronics. He picked up his lifelong nickname of "Kitch" from his fellow pupils, who named him after Don Kitchenbrand, a South African footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
with Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
in the 1950s.
Early career
Christie returned to South Africa after his education, when he joined the Pretoria HarlequinsPretoria Harlequins
-History:The Pretoria Harlequins started life as the Civil Service Club, but when the membership needed to be extended beyond the Civil Service, it was decided in February 1906 to change the name to “The Harlequin Rugby Club” and to ask for permission to use the London Harlequins colours and...
club as a flanker. While his playing career was uneventful, it was during his time with the Harlequins that Christie began developing his coaching skills. It was the start of an enduring association with Quins—broken only by a spell as coach of the Glenwood Old Boys in Durban—during which he coached them to a number of trophies as well as serving as a Northern Transvaal selector.
In 1980, Christie spent the South African winter (Northern Hemisphere summer) in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, coaching the Chicago Lions
Chicago Lions
The Chicago Lions Rugby Football Club is a SuperLeague rugby union team based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Lions were founded in 1964 and their all black colors follow the color scheme of the New Zealand All Blacks...
club. Although he spent less than three months in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, he made a lasting impact on the club, leading them to the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
regional crown.
In 1992, having been denied the opportunity to coach at Northern Transvaal, Christie accepted an offer from Louis Luyt
Louis Luyt
Louis Luyt is a South African business tycoon and politician, and one-time rugby administrator.Making a name for himself as a rugby star as a young man, Luyt went on to found Triomf Fertiliser, Luyt Breweries, and to take control of Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg...
, then the president of the Transvaal union
Golden Lions
The Golden Lions is a provincial rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. For sponsorship reason...
, to take the reins there. Luyt would go on to play an important role in Christie's later career.
It was at Transvaal that Christie was to establish himself as one of the finest coaches in South African rugby, leading the team to one of their most successful periods in their history. Transvaal won back to back Currie Cup titles 1993 and 1994, their first wins in the competition since 1972, as well as winning the inaugural Super 10
Super 10
Super 10 may refer to:*Super 10 , the national rugby union competition in Italy*Super 10 , a Southern Hemisphere rugby union competition held between 1993 and 1995 which predated the Super 12...
title in 1993. In 1993, the team won all four of the competitions they entered (Currie Cup, Super 10, Lion Cup, M-NET Night Series). The team, with Francois Pienaar as captain, was to form the nucleus of the Christie's Springbok team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, providing 13 members to the Springbok squad.
The Springboks
In 1994, Luyt was appointed president of the South African Rugby Football UnionSouth African Rugby Union
The South African Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to the International Rugby Board...
. The Springboks coaching position became vacant in mid-1994, after Ian McIntosh
Ian McIntosh
Ian McIntosh is a Zimbabwean-South African rugby union coach. He served as head coach for the Springboks during the early 1990s.McIntosh grew up near Bulawayo....
was sacked following a series defeat to 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 New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Luyt was convinced that Christie was the man to take over following his success at Transvaal, and in October 1994, Christie accepted the offer to take over from McIntosh.
Christie entered at what was arguably the most pressure-packed period in South African rugby history—the run-up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted by South Africa, and the first major competition for the Springboks after their return from international exile with the demise of apartheid. Christie had just nine months to transform the team into World Cup contenders.
Christie began his Springbok coaching career with back-to-back victories at home against in October 1994, followed by a successful tour to Europe in November 1994, when the team beat and .
After a comfortable victory in a World Cup warm-up game against Samoa in April 1995, the Boks were finally ready to challenge for the title at home. The World Cup campaign got off to a flying start, with the team defeating defending champions and pre-tournament favourites in the opening match in Cape Town
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....
. Victory in this game would prove crucial, with Christie referring to it as allowing the team to take the "High Road" to the final, avoiding teams such as England and New Zealand until the final.
They went on to win their remaining pool matches, but not without a brutal game against in the final pool match. The Boks then defeated Manu Samoa
Samoa national rugby union team
The Manu Samoa is the men's representative side of the Samoa Rugby Union in both the 15's and the 7's for international competitions. The Samoa Rugby Union is owned by the affiliated rugby unions of Samoa. In Samoa, Manu Samoa is in honour of a famous Samoan warrior. From 1924 to 1997 Samoa was...
in the quarterfinals, and eked out a dramatic semifinal win over . South Africa's reward for defeating France would be a final with their old rival, the All Blacks, and their sensational wing Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union player. He had sixty-three caps as an All Black after debuting in 1994. He is generally regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He has had a huge impact on the game...
, who had set the tournament alight with his tries, including four in their semi-final against England.
The Boks defence stood up to the challenge, keeping Lomu off the scoreboard (in fact, he would never score a try against South Africa in his career). The match ended in a 9-9 draw in regulation, sending the teams to extra time, after which South Africa won 15-12. The victory on home soil in 1995 touched people far beyond rugby's normal constituency, and will be best remembered for Nelson Mandela, wearing the captain's No 6 shirt, embracing the captain Francois Pienaar after South Africa's victory, a scene recreated in the movie Invictus
Invictus
"Invictus" is a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley .- Background :At the age of 12, Henley contracted tuberculosis of the bone. A few years later, the disease progressed to his foot, and physicians announced that the only way to save his life was to amputate directly...
.
Christie's final game in charge of the Springboks was a victory over England at Twickenham on a short tour in November 1995. By this time, his health had deteriorated from leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, which he had been battling since 1979. Francois Pienaar, in his autobiography, recalled how Christie joined the team huddle and stood between Pienaar and James Dalton. "The usual end to such a Springboks huddle is for the players to squeeze each other and shout 'Bokke'," said Pienaar. "James and I squeezed the coach and discovered later we'd fractured two of his ribs. He never said a word."
In March 1996, Christie stepped down from the Springboks due to ill health and was replaced by Andre Markgraaf.
Christie coached the Boks in 14 tests between October 1994 and March 1996, winning all 14. At the time, this tied 1960s All Blacks coach Fred Allen's
Fred Allen (rugby player)
Sir Frederick "Fred" Richard Allen, KNZM, OBE is a former captain and coach of the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby union team. The All Blacks won all 14 of the test matches they played under his coaching....
record for the longest consecutive Test match winning streak for a coach. This record would later be broken by Boks coach Nick Mallett
Nick Mallett
Nicholas Vivian Howard Mallett is a former South African rugby union player who was until recently the head coach of the Italian national team, previously replacing Pierre Berbizier on 3 October 2007...
.
Final years
After resigning as Springbok coach in March 1996, Christie's treatment went well enough that he was finally able to fulfill a longtime dream of coaching Northern Transvaal, accepting the head coaching job there for the 19971997 Super 12 season
The 1997 Super 12 season was the second season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1997, with each team playing all the others once...
Super 12
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...
season. However, due to ill-health, he was unable to travel with the team to Australasia early in the season, and he was hospitalised a few weeks later after his condition took a turn for the worse. It was there that Christie experienced one of the lowest moments in his career when he was fired as coach by Northerns' president Hentie Serfontein while he lay in his hospital bed. Christie described this as being fired "like a dog".
By the end of 1997, his condition worsened to the point that he sought specialised treatment in the U.S. He was able to return to rugby as a technical adviser to the Falcons
Falcons (rugby team)
The Falcons, or Valke in Afrikaans, are a South African rugby union team in Gauteng province that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournaments....
in early 1998, but his condition worsened once more, entering the hospital for the final time on Easter Sunday
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
of 1998. Christie died on 22 April 1998, leaving his wife Judy of 19 years, their son Clayton, and his two daughters, Catherine and Caroline, from a previous marriage.