Small always wore his heart on his sleeve
An enduring memory of James Small in his last appearance in a Springbok jersey was his lusty singing of Flower of Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in 1997.
As belligerent and difficult as Small could be on the field of play, he was big-hearted and deeply emotional off it, and that day the sentimentalist in him could not resist the popular Scottish national anthem.
He then proceeded to score two sparkling tries in what turned out be one of the Springboks’ best ever performances, a 68-10 annihilation of the Scots that was a fitting farewell to a truly great Bok.
Small’s Springbok career had started five years earlier when he was on the right wing in the Boks’ first post-isolation Test, against the All Blacks at Ellis Park.
In that epic match, the Springboks were outclassed for much of the game before fighting back to within three points of the Kiwis, and as time ticked away the Boks had a golden opportunity to win the game when Small was unmarked out on the touchline near the New Zealanders’ try-line, only for his youthful over-eagerness to cause him to spill a pass from Danie Gerber, with South Africa going on to lose the match 27-24.
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