Chiliboy Ralepelle’s rugby career, may go down as one of the biggest “should’ve, could’ves” in the history of African Rugby">African Rugby">South African Rugby. Having made SA Schools at the age of 16, in incredible circumstances, to becoming the youngest, as well as first unofficial Springbok Captain of colour just three-years later. For many, the path to stardom was as clear as the daylight often showed by a prime Heinrich Brussouw at the breakdown, for the Tzaneen-born hooker, but somehow, South African rugby’s golden boy, had found his value plummet down to that of copper, and subsequently became one of the most polarizing figures of the local game.
But way before every media publications sports section wanted a piece of Ralepelle’s attention and story, it was two giant schools in Grey College and Affies that entered a tug of war for his services first, after he had an exceptional u13 Craven week. In the end, it was a school that was watching the tussle, with popcorn in hand, that would emerge victorious from this situation. “When I got to Affies, I thought it was dual-medium” he recalls. Then on that same day Pierre Edwards phoned the Pretoria Boys High headmaster, to set up a meeting and that’s how I ended up at PBH (laughs) so one could call it fate, one could call it an accident”
Although he would eventually go down as a PBH great, he admits settling in was no easy task, as he was not aware of the magnitude of the school he had just walked into. “I must say it was a bit of a massive challenge because, I came from a predominately Afrikaans school, and so I could speak Afrikaans probably better than English. What I found was the diversity within the cultures was so immense, there was a Greek, Chinese, Boereboem and black table” he said. “I didn’t know it was such a prestigious school, and it’s history until I got to the school” he continued.
Soon, it would be time for Ralepelle to earn his reputation on the rugby field, that being pivotal to his integration to the school and understanding the significance of playing for it. “It was so massive, when the school gets together every weekend and chants the schools name and war cries, that for me was a powerful tool that almost made you feel like you belong and makes you realize that this beautiful country of ours, with so much diversity, but yet can manage to come together and that is the power of sport, in this country if everybody is treated equally”
Ralepelle would then be selected into PBH first team in his grade 11 year, he describes his experience in the jersey. “There were no political agenda’s it was merely about just getting out with your mates and just playing for one another and the school with the chants giving you a boost, but it was about the camaraderie”. A rare case, just a year previous, Ralepelle found himself in a unique position of having made his Bulls Craven Week debut, before his first team rugby bow, at 16, he explains: “The Bulls hooker got injured and they had no other replacement, then I was called up after an impressive u16 game. So I went directly to Craven Week without trials” he recalls.
He would then continue to defy the odds, by going on to make the SA Schools in that same tournament, and he admits that, that was far from an objective of his at the time. “I must say the selection for me was just a bonus, I never had ambitions until Craven Week. I started waking up at 4 am in the morning, started going to the field, throwing balls, doing sprints to get myself conditioned, almost every day”. He said. Due to his age, Ralepelle was grateful for the special provisions made for him in the squad that were instilled to aid his development. “Obviously I was too young, they had to put structures in place. The guy that was playing ahead of me was Bismark du Plessis and little did I know that we would become rivals when we played against Grey College (laughs). Then the following year it was Adriaan Strauss”. He reveals that, playing second fiddle never deterred him, but rather motivated him to constantly put in a double shift. “That’s what showed me that, I needed to work harder. The greatest thing about being selected for SA Schools, I believe is that everybody has equal talent, but in order to get yourself above talent, going to have to put in the extra hours, being the first one in, last one out that was my philosophy”.
Although Siya Kolisi officially went down as the first black captain of the Springboks/" title="Springboks">Springboks, Ralepelle can also claim the bragging rights of having led the national team, in an unofficial test against the World XV, just one year out of high school. Although, his talent was visible, not everybody seemed to be sold he was there on merit, but he was not worrying about that. “You’ve got to make the most of the opportunity” he said. “So what I did is just take the opportunity and say if I’m here because of my skin colour, brilliant, if I am here because I deserve to be, brilliant but none of those two are going to dictate where I’m going in life. I am the driver and master of my own destiny”
With 25 caps to his name, it would be acceptable to claim Ralepelle fell incredibly short of the expectations bestowed upon him, due to his early promise. Many would’ve envisaged him going down as one of the most capped Bok players in history and a captain. He bemoans the way his situation was managed in the national team, claiming that, had there been a proper plan in place for him, he would’ve fulfilled his potential. “ The sad thing about Jake White is that he didn’t put any structures(for a long-term plan) so as a youngster you can obviously get overwhelmed, and I always said to Jake “release me to go play” if those structures were put in place, I would’ve been a different player” he insists.
That is not the only issue that would have Ralepelle tossing and turning in his sleep as he was recently slapped with an eight-year ban from rugby for repeated doping incidences, he, however, continues to plead his innocence. “Sometimes one wants to laugh about it, because for you looking in from the outside, it’s like I did. Yes, we are all not perfect, but one thing I would like to clarify, is that I am innocent, I have not committed any doping crime, hence we have sent out our appeal. It’s not to say I want to get back to the park and play, it’s just wanting to make sure the next person doesn’t suffer the same fate. I’ve totally moved away and will not go back to the game, I’m now solely trying to get myself into Business as an entrepreneur” he concluded.
* Ralepelle was again given a guilty verdict and had his ban upheld in November. His legally team are reportedly mulling over a fresh challenge, watch the space*