Elma smit biography of abraham

There’s a South African schools’ game that attracts 50,000 people. It’s played between Paarl Boys High and Paarl Gymnasium, which was my school. Rugby was literally the way we socialised.

I remember the score between the two teams in my final years, we won 13-3.

I grew up in an environment where rugby was part and parcel of your education. Paarl is a small town in the winelands, just outside of Cape Town.

I went to the same school as Schalk Burger and John De Villiers and more recent Springboks that went there would be Andre Pollard, Wilco Louw. But it never occurred to me at that age that women could also play the sport.

I was involved with all things at school, but I was never an exceptional athlete. Girls played netball and hockey, but I was very bad.

I was the girl who did the debates or hosted exchange students, organised the functions and wrote for the school newspaper.

I was always a broadcaster. I started working at the little radio