'Sorry for the language, but I ****ed everyone up. I tackled the ***t out of everyone'
To understand Cornal Hendricks’ insatiable desire to succeed, to prevail in the face of desperate poverty and crime, a heart problem and the loss of his livelihood and purpose, months of blackness that drove him into a deep depression, hours of solo training and rejection after rejection, you have to go back to a little house on the cruel streets of South Africa’s Western Cape.
Under its frayed and leaking roof lived five siblings and their astonishing mother. Rachel Hendricks and her husband had four children when they separated. Ten-year-old Cornal was their youngest.
A retired cleaner and charity volunteer, Rachel had been working at a shelter feeding the destitute and the homeless of Wellington when she found a baby girl abandoned under a bridge. She took the infant in as her own, despite barely being able to keep the lights on, patch the roof and feed hungry mouths as it was.
She could not give her family riches or lavish them with presents. Often, providing hot meals was trouble enough. But she could teach them respect, love, and above all, to chase their dreams with raging passion.
The baby under the bridge is 19 now and in training to be a chef. Alida, the eldest Hendricks, is 40 and a qualified teacher whose first paycheques helped haul the family through their most austere days. And of course, 31-year-old Cornal is the Springbok winger who refused to accept his career was over after a routine medical examination revealed an issue with his heart.
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There followed four years of hideous turmoil and superhuman resilience, but we’ll get to that. First, to Wellington, where Hendricks saw the horrors that blighted his people and resolved to make a difference.
“Coming from that rural area, I wanted to become something, to play for the Springboks. I wanted to be that light in our dark communities,” said Hendricks to RugbyPass. “There are a lot of gangs, drug addicts – all the merchants that sell dope. They’re driving the fancy cars and our kids are growing up seeing that – and they are their role models.
“I wanted to be that light – you don’t have to follow that path; if I can make it, you can make it as well. I always went back to give back to the children or to elderly people. My mum taught us that when we were little and if you grow up with that, you will always go back to your community.”
Rachel was an inspiration and a colossus in the household. She was a constant, beaming presence at each of her son’s primary school matches, chaperoning the under-11s team on the long bus journey to Durban for games.
“One time in Durban, I went around one guy and ran straight down the touchline,” recalled Hendricks. “My mum ran all the way next to the field with me, sprinting, and dived next to me when I dived in the corner to score.”
Son achieving; mother treading each step and riding every tackle alongside him. It was the perfect metaphor for what was to come. Hendricks became a professional at 20 and a sevens international several years later, a brawny winger with obvious potential and a gregarious raconteur among his team-mates.
Hurricanes v Bulls | Super Rugby 2019 Quarter Final 2 Highlights
The @Hurricanesrugby seal a semi-final spot after edging a brave @BlueBullsRugby side 35-28 in a thrilling contest in Wellington. #SuperRugby #HURvBUL #SR19Finals pic.twitter.com/LrkkGs0RcM— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) June 22, 2019
One morning, he was about to leave for training when his mother grabbed him by the shoulders and began to weep, broken by the unrelenting cycle of financial hardship. “I can’t take it anymore,” she bawled. “We don’t have money, it’s getting really tough to get a pot on the stove, keep on food on the table.”
That day, the Blitzbokke boys saw another side of their jovial, hilarious mate. Hendricks tore into the session like a rabid buffalo, the sobs of his mother still burning on his shoulder. “Sorry for the language, but I f***ed everyone up. I tackled the s**t out of everyone,” he said. “Coach Paul Treu came to me and said, ‘That is the animal I was waiting to see in you. Why now?’
“I told him I didn’t want to see my mum cry and suffer to get food on the table. I want to give my all so I can be the best in the world; I want to do better in life so that my mum can have a better life.
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“She gave us everything when we were small, she went out of her way to give us the best that she possibly could and I want to return the favour now. That was my motivation, my mum crying on my shoulder. “I told her, ‘You will never cry a day in your life again for food or money’.”
Within two years, Hendricks was a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and a Springbok. He missed out on the 2015 World Cup, but that meant more time to prepare for the Rio Olympics the following summer.
Before the Games, every player was put through a standard medical examination. Hendricks thought nothing of it. Why would he, at the peak of his physical powers?
But his electrocardiogram (ECG) showed something in his heart was badly wrong. He will not discuss the specifics of the problem in any detail, save that the condition had a “fancy name” and typically arises in patients after strenuous exercise.
The upshot was devastating – a doctor telling him that at 26, with a lucrative move to the Stormers already secured and plans to move abroad thereafter, he would never play again. The fat contract was gone, but worse than that, his passion had been snatched away overnight.
Those early months were torturous. Hendricks couldn’t bear the mention of rugby, never mind follow the Blitzbokke’s progress in Brazil. “Every time I put on the TV and rugby was on, tears just rolled down my cheeks. I was thinking, ‘That could have been me’.
Sharing my storie on Fathersday ! I'm blessed. Thank you Jesus pic.twitter.com/XeeZZLdcmF
— Cornal Hendricks (@CornalHendricks) June 16, 2019
“I couldn’t watch sport anymore. I was so emotional. Every time I was with people and they talked about rugby, I’d walk to the side and just cry. When I went to bed, lying there and staring at the roof, tears would flow because the thing that you love the most is taken from you. I couldn’t accept it.
“If I wasn’t for God, I would have been an alcoholic, I would have been involved in strange things. I asked God to please take the emotional pain away because that is what hurt the most. If I could reach into my ribs and take it away myself, I would. That was me three or four years ago. Still thinking about it gives me goosebumps.”
Hendricks kept training, in the gym, on his own. He gave up a beautiful house in Stellenbosch and his sponsors took back their car. No sense in bestowing fancy wheels on a player who could no longer play.
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He moved back in with his mother and sought second, third and fourth opinions from cardiologists, even going as far as the Cayman Islands to see one particularly eminent physician. The tests and the verdicts, he says, were all the same – he was fine, he could play again.
The problem was that no team was willing to risk taking him on. For almost three years, interest arose and invariably waned. Toulon, the Kings, the Bulls – deals were thrashed out and then fell through. “I started to train and back myself again. But the hardest thing for me was that no-one wanted to accept me. No-one wanted to put me on the field.”
To escape the festering malaise and the anguish that gnawed at him, he turned his attention back to home, back to the crime-ravaged neighbourhoods of Wellington. He poured effort into his foundation, set up in 2014 to support those in his community who need it most.
“If I’m not going to play rugby, what can I do to make a difference in someone else’s life? When I started to shift my energy and emotions to helping other people, helping a child achieve his goal, I found completeness,” he explained. “While doing that, I forgot about my emotions. I was focusing on other people, giving back to my community in a bigger way.
“Sometimes you lose track, it’s all about you as a professional, you get all the material things, and when they get taken from you, your back’s against the wall, then you start realising, listen, I don’t have those fancy things anymore, God is taking me through things that he wants you to do for him in order to give your talent back again.”
As his perspective shifted, things started to happen. Heyneke Meyer, the former Boks coach who gave him his Test debut, picked up the phone and invited him to play for the Asia Pacific Dragons 10s team he was putting together.
Just love this game so much ! Thanks @tigerrugby for the opportunity 🙏 #feelingblessed😇 #Tiger #rugby #doterra pic.twitter.com/EiqzacPeuC
— Cornal Hendricks (@CornalHendricks) August 23, 2018
From there, he went to America and the Tiger Rugby Club, run by two South African businessmen. It was here that the Bulls came again, high-performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg watching footage of his games and encouraging the franchise to make Hendricks an offer.
There were tests and more tests to satisfy the Bulls doctors but finally, last year, glorious salvation. “My agent phoned me and sung the Blue Bulls song in Afrikaans down the phone,” said Hendricks.
“He told me, ‘Listen, you’re getting a two-year Super Rugby contract’. I was like, ‘Get out of here, you’re joking! Let me see it.’ We went for coffee and he showed me the contract. I started to cry again.
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“When I signed, the CEO of the Bulls called me and he said, ‘Welcome, you are part of the family’. If you could see me right now, my arms are so full of chills. I called my wife and mum immediately after that and they were just screaming and crying.
“It was very hard for the family when I went through a tough time, but now they are experiencing the enjoyable times as well and it was a huge relief for them.
“If I’d kept playing, I would have been at the Olympics, I would have 45 Springbok caps and close to 85 Super Rugby games, I would be playing at a big overseas club. It’s very hard for me to look back and think about what could have been, but I could make it a reality now.”
Almost four years after his last professional game, Hendricks’ comeback was complete. His Super Rugby season was a success; he grew as an attacking force as the rounds ticked by and his body readjusted to the rigors of the elite game, culminating in two typically powerful finishes in the Bulls’ quarter-final loss to the Hurricanes.
The Currie Cup is the focus now, but Japan remains his dream. Rassie Erasmus has an outrageous arsenal of weaponry on the wings and Hendricks is not in his squad for the Rugby Championship.
The World Cup is a tall order, but after all Hendricks has overcome, it is far from insurmountable. “While I’m training with the Bulls, while I’m doing my extra work, the dream is in the back of my head, I’m always thinking about the green and gold,” he said.
TALKING POINTS: From the past weekend’s #SuperRugby quarter-finals, including @CornalHendricks putting himself into Springbok contention. https://t.co/JmefXYSMP4
— RugbyRocks.com (@rugby_rocks) June 23, 2019
“I’m actually preparing for the World Cup, as I should, but playing Currie Cup. My preparation is more than winning the Currie Cup. I want to win it and we’re going to win it because we have a strong squad, but my focus is more than that, because I still have a goal to play in the green and gold. That is pushing me to be a better player. I want to be a different animal in the Currie Cup.”
Back in Wellington, Rachel Hendricks’ roof doesn’t leak anymore. She has a new kitchen, a sparking tiled interior, safety gates on the driveway and a salary paid by her son each month for the rest of her days.
“You know you get those nice old farmhouses on the wine estates? My dream is to give my mum a house that she loves in a very nice, safe area where she can just enjoy growing old.
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“I don’t want my mum to be struggling at 70 years old. She must enjoy her 10, 15, 20 years on this earth. If she wants to have a pizza at night, she can have a pizza. If she wants a burger, she can have a burger. Anything she wants to do, she must have it. Not to spoil her, but I don’t want to see my mum getting older and suffering.
“And the same for my wife’s parents – I’m not going to allow us to have all the best things in life and see them struggling. When I was out of rugby, I made sure my mum was taken care of. I will never repay her for what she did for us.”
From the rain sloshing through the leaky roof and the gangsters on the streets to the green and gold of the Bokke, from the cardiology offices and the twilight sobs to the sweet fervour of Loftus, and maybe, just maybe, onwards again to Japan. Whatever the doctors say, inside Hendricks’ chest there beats one hell of a heart.
WATCH: Episode three of the RugbyPass Rugby Explorer series where Jim Hamilton takes a trek through South African rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments