Steven Kitshoff visits ODP

London Welsh is not just a fantastic club for those of us who are of Welsh heritage but also a club that has been iconic around the world for the players we have produced and the players that have visited our famous club, from our own enviable long list of London Welsh internationals from across the rugby world to visitors from other clubs.

On Saturday I had the honour of meeting yet another rugby legend, the South African front row double World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff and showing him not only the collection in the John Dawes room but also the fascinating and one-of-a-kind blazer, cap and kit of Kathleen Trick.

Steven who has seen his fair share of international jerseys was surprised by this treasured relic of the past that sits in a position of pride in the John Dawes room commenting that it even had the gold piping given only to players.

It is just a small story and one of the many that can be told about our club but just emphasises to me the richness of our heritage and the importance of the legacy we are custodians of.

KATHLEEN TRICK “THE SPRINGBOK GIRL”

The South African rugby team toured England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France between September 1906 and January 1907. They played twenty-nine matches including five internationals - they won twenty-six, losing only twice (to Scotland and to Cardiff) and drawing once (with England). During their time in Britain, the South African team acquired their famous nickname: The Springboks. But they also acquired an extra squad member. Born in 1901, Kathleen was the oldest of seven children. At the time of the tour, her father, Walter Henry Trick was the secretary at London Welsh RFC. His cousin was the Mayor of Stoke Newington, who happened to be invited to a costume ball hosted by the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House in January 1907. He passed the invitations to Kathleen and her father. The family decided that Kathleen should attend in a Springbok outfit but at this time you could not simply buy a replica kit. After negotiations with the team manager, Cecil Carden, it was agreed that Kathleen would be allowed to wear a South Africa kit on two conditions: that the costume be made by the team's official outfitters, George Lewin of London, and that six-year-old Kathleen had to be enrolled as a member of the touring party. She thus received the title 'Springbok Elect'. Playing along, Kathleen reportedly replied: "I am sorry that we lost in Cardiff, but I hope that we shall win next week." She was photographed wearing her kit at a studio on New Oxford Street, and the Welsh artist John Kelt Edwards also recorded the costume in a painting that is now on display at the World Rugby Museum in Twickenham. In 1909, the Trick family moved to Neath in Wales, where Kathleen's father had been born, but the connection with the Springboks continued. In 1931, 30-year-old Kathleen and her husband John were guests of the touring South African team at a dinner at the Esplanade Hotel in Porthcawl, and at their matches against Aberavon and Neath, and against Wales. On this occasion, Kathleen wore an adult-sized Springbok blazer.

Credit The World Rugby Museum Twickenham