Johannesburg, South Africa
JEWISH COMMUNITY WERE WONDERFUL, SAYS RUGBY LEGEND WILF
DAVID SAFFER meets a sporting legend whose amazing skills took him into the record books
WILF ROSENBERG is a sporting legend in rugby union and rugby league.
Born in Cape Town, Wilf developed his rugby skills in Australia before making his mark for South Africa prior to starring at Leeds RL.
Rosenberg met adoring Leeds fans recently as the club held 50th anniversary celebrations since winning its first championship title in 1961.
Now living in Beth Protea, Herzlia, near elder daughter Nicola, Wilf - who turns 77 tomorrow - was dubbed the "flying dentist" as he scored spectacular tries.
Renowned for his trademark swallow dive in the corner, this top sportsman has fond memories of a memorable career in his heyday.
"I began playing rugby union when I was six and scored three or four tries regularly for Sydney Grammar School," he recalled.
"One day our coach asked former Wallabies full back Ron Rankin to watch us play. Ron said I'd play for Australia."
But Wilf was not destined to pull on the Aussie shirt as his family returned to South Africa.
"Sydney Grammar was upset and offered to put me in a boarding school, but my mother said, 'No way, my son comes with me'," he said.
Wilf developed his threequarter play at Jeppe High School, Johannesburg, then played for his province, Transvaal, at under-19 and senior level.
"We had a great schoolboy back line," he said. "Playing centre, I'd swing away outside my opponent.
"When I got the ball I'd dummy the full back and be away. Opponents used to shout, 'Stop Rosenberg'."
International recognition came when the British Lions faced the Springboks, unbeaten at home for 50 years in a series, in 1955.
Wilf was not selected for the opening Test when Jack van der Schyff missed a last-minute penalty, resulting in a 23-22 defeat.
"The Lions had a great back line with Johnny Williams, Cliff Morgan, Phil Davies, Jeff Butterfield and Anthony O'Reilly," Wilf recalled.
"There was uproar that I was not in the team and a feeling the Springboks would have won if I'd played.
"Just past midnight, the team for the second Test at Newlands, Cape Town, was announced on the radio. It was an incredible moment when I heard my name.
"Next day, the Page One headline in the main newspaper, the Sunday Times, read 'Rosenberg - Fifth Jewish Rugby Springbok'.
"The editor was Jewish. He told me later, 'I'm writing the main story - after all it's a Jewish boy'."
Scoring on his Boks début, the game is also notable as Wilf won the hearts of segregated black spectators.
Running out to play, Wilf waved when they cheered him.
In the world of apartheid, he was an instant hero.
Ecstatic fans jumped the fence when he scored before they were restrained by police.
"I think about my début often," he recalled.
"The game was five minutes old and I sensed the Lions strategy: 'We'll target Rosenberg, the smallest guy on the field'.
"Davies was a giant, called for the ball and set off. I took off and hit him. Bang! The crowd erupted.
"Our plan was to keep it from the backs and attack in the second half. I cut right through the Lions back line for my try. Fans still say it's one of the best they've seen.
"I was not a selfish player so when Roy Drybrugh came running up on the outside screaming 'Rosie', I slipped him the ball to score.
"We won 25-9 and at full time the Lions lined up and started clapping. I wondered why and then the Springboks stepped back and clapped. It was for me."
In a memorable series, the Boks won the last Test to square the series 2-2.
The fifth Jew to represent the Springboks, Wilf followed 30s stars Morris Zimerman and Louis Babrow.
He went on to tour Australia and faced New Zealand and France.
After missing the opening two Tests against the All Blacks due to a torn hamstring, Wilf lined up for the Christchurch Test after doctors injected his thigh.
"I scored a try from 75 yards," he recalled. "The crowd are sporting and claimed it was the greatest they'd seen. It was also all the press wanted to talk about."
Wilf was unable to play in the final Test as the Boks lost the series, dubbed the "hamstring tour", 3-1.
He ended his Springboks career against the French. "I tucked up the two centres," he recalled.
Throughout his Boks career, Wilf never experienced antisemitism.
Regarding apartheid, he noted that there was no excuse for it but hated politics and steered clear of the subject.
"I was a Jewish boy doing his best," he said.
And this Jewish boy is immortalised alongside other Jewish players in a painting called the Springbok Minyan.
"There are 11 copies, one for the artist and one for each Jew who played for South Africa," he said. "I'm in the top right-hand corner. My elder daughter, Nicola, who lives in Israel, has it over her fireplace.
"Everyone can see her daddy and she's very proud of it."
Depicting 10 Boks, the list includes Joel Stransky, of Invictus fame, as he starred in the 1995 World Cup triumph,
Wilf is proud of the Springboks' two World Cup triumphs and describes Invictus, which tells how the team united the Rainbow Nation after years of apartheid, as "very realistic".
And just as Stransky has a place in history, so does Rosenberg, head back after dummying an opponent before slicing through and swallow diving over the try line.
Wilf's stock had grown and soon he was following fellow Boks Tom van Vollenhoven and Jan Prinsloo to rugby league. But he was not bound for St Helens where the duo impressed.
Leeds RL scouts had approached Wilf's father, Rabbi Philip Rosenberg, when he visited his brother in London.
Being a rabbi's son, his father had been criticised back home in South Africa.
Asked how he could preach on the Sabbath when his son played the same day, the Orthodox rabbi noted his son's "God-given talent", reasoning, "Who am I to argue with God?"
Wilf and his wife Elinor were on honeymoon in Durban when a telegram arrived from his father telling him to pack his bags for Leeds in a record £6,000 deal.
"I didn't know where Leeds was but knew about rugby league," Wilf recalled. "It was a shock but part of the deal was that Elinor could return to see her parents every three months.
"When I arrived there was a message from Henry Gould, of Headrow Clothes, and a chauffeur waiting.
"Mr Gould introduced himself and lawyer Jack Levy. He then told his tailor to measure me for five suits."
Away from rugby league, Wilf switched from medicine to study dentistry at Leeds University.
On the field, he initially played centre before moving to the wing with devastating effect. He also knew that Leeds RL had made a sound investment for other reasons.
"The club were not shmocks," he said. "They knew a Jewish boy could draw the crowds and on my first appearance the number of Jewish fans was incredible.
"The Jewish community were fantastic. We were often asked for Friday night supper and it is something I've never forgotten."
In a memorable three- year stay at Headingley, Wilf recorded a record 44 tries in the 1960/61 campaign as Leeds RL landed the top domestic honour.
"The club had never won the title but suddenly we were winning every game," he recalled. "Something special was happening. Lewis Jones was the key player with Kenny Thornett and Derek Hallas."
Wilf scored twice in a play-off against St Helens.
"Lewis was responsible for the first when he went past the fly-half like a dose of salts," he said. "I screamed, 'Lewis' and he flipped the ball.
"I took it and dived for the line with Mick Sullivan hanging on to my legs.
"For the second, Lewis in his genius way swung the ball quickly to Derek who flipped me the ball. I got past the St Helens cover but still had full back Austin Rhodes in front of me.
"Austin was a big, strong guy and I had nowhere to go so decided I'd go straight at him. Next thing, I had the ball down, the referee scores it and it won the game."
The try, secured a new record - but would be his last for the club. As for the final against Warrington at Odsal Stadium when Leeds claimed a historic 25-10 win, Wilf noted: "I remember the massive crowd and brilliance of the Leeds side. We won comfortably."
Sustaining a broken jaw early on the following season, he was not keen to regain form in the A-team and joined Hull where he ended his playing days.
Looking back on his Headingley days, he added: "Playing for Leeds was a tremendous experience.
"Jewish people came out in droves to see me, a Jewish boy, playing rugby league. It was wonderful."
Returning to South Africa, Wilf and his wife brought up their three children while he built a dental practice and a burgeoning sports career.
A rugby columnist for South Africa's Sunday Times, Wilf was a journalist for overseas newspapers and magazines, a commentator for the South African Broadcasting Company and hosted Wilf's Whistle.
He also helped promote boxing, which is when he got to meet President Nelson Mandela.
"Mandela was a mad keen rugby and boxing fan," he recalled. "We always had ringside seats for him and his staff, but could not start until he arrived.
"He invited me to his house for tea and we spoke about his days on Robben Island where he spent 27 years in exile.
"'Wilf, you must learn forgiveness,' he told me - an amazing statement after the way he had been treated. Mandela had learned tolerance and forgiveness. He is an amazing person."
Wilf, whose wife died in 1989, made aliyah two decades on to live near his daughter, Nicola, of Modi'in. Wilf's other children live in Australia.
His sporting status was recognised when he was inducted into the International Jewish Hall of Fame in 1994.
Wikivisually.com/wiki/Wilf_Rosenberg
Wilf Rosenberg
Personal information
Full name
Wilfred Rosenberg
Born
18 June 1934
Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa
Died
14 January 2019 (aged 84)
Herzliya, Israel
Playing information
Rugby union
Position
Wilf Rosenberg (18 June 1934 – 14 January 2019) was a South African rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.
Career
Born in South Africa, Rosenberg moved to Australia as a child and started playing rugby union while a pupil at Sydney Grammar School; as a teenager he returned to South Africa and played for his local school, Jeppe High School in Johannesburg, before playing for the Transvaal provincial team.[3] Picked five times for the South Africa national rugby union team between 1955 and 1958 in which he scored two tries,[1] Rosenberg moved to the United Kingdom and changed codes to become a professional rugby league player while studying dentistry at Leeds University.[3] Rosenberg was signed by Leeds for a £6,000 signing-on fee and made his début in 1959.[3] Initially playing as a centre before settling on the wing, in a three-year stay he helped the club win its first Championship title in 1960–61 season, setting a new club record for most tries in a single season with 48 tries in the 1960–61 season,[3] he rounded off the season playing at right wing in the 25–10 victory over Warrington in the Championship Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford on Saturday 20 May 1961, in front of a crowd of 52,177.[4][5] He made 81 appearances for Leeds scoring 73 tries. [5] Known as "the Flying Dentist" Rosenberg left Leeds in 1961 after breaking his jaw and joined Hull F.C. for whom he played 86 times scoring 42 tries before retiring from the game in 1963.[6]
After retiring from rugby Rosenberg returned to South Africa where he established his own dental practice before a stroke ended his dental career in 1970. After this Rosenberg turned his hand to other pursuits including boxing promotion, he eventually retired to Israel and died in Herzliya on 14 January 2019.[7]
Rosenberg had been inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.[7]
References
1.^ a b "Wilf Rosenberg South Africa". ESPN. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
2.^ Caplan, Phil; Smith, Peter (2001). 100 greats: Leeds Rugby League Club. Stroud: Tempus. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-7524-2225-1.
3.^ a b c d "Jewish community were wonderful, says rugby legend Wilf". Jewish Telegraph. 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
4.^ "1961–1970: The Holy Grail is captured". therhinos.co.uk. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
WILF ROSENBERG DIES IN ISRAEL
The extraordinary life of Wilf Rosenberg was ended by a stroke on Monday, 14 January 2019. He was 84.
Born in Cape Town, he started playing rugby in Sydney, Australia, finished his education in Johannesburg and was only 24 when he played his last Test. A rugged young man, his later years were frail.
Rosenberg was a star at Jeppe High School for Boys in Johannesburg and two years later, a student at Wits University, he was chosen to play for Transvaal. Two years later, at 20, he became a Springbok. At the age of 24 he crossed over to play rugby league and had an outstanding career doing so.
Rosenberg’s father was Rabbi Philip Rosenberg. In 1937, he was the chief rabbi for Australasia, when the great Springboks came on tour. When Louis Babrow played in the last Test on Yom Kippur, Rabbi Rosenberg was critical of him. When some in the Jewish community asked how Wilf, the son of a rabbi, could be playing rugby on shabbat, the rabbi reportedly said: “My son was born with a God-given talent. Who am I to argue with God?”
Rosenberg started playing rugby at Sydney Grammar School before the family moved back to South Africa. After stardom at Jeppe, he played for Witwatersrand University, where he was studying medicine. In 1953, at 18, he was first chosen for Transvaal at a time when Transvaal had some excellent backs – Clive Ulyate, Des Sinclair, Joe Kaminer, Natie Rens, Jan Prinsloo, Hansie Oelofse, Lance Nel, Johnny Buchler and Paul Johnstone. Rosenberg played for Transvaal from 1953 to 1958, just nine times in all.
The 1954 South African Rugby Annual, reporting on Transvaal in 1953, said under the heading Interesting Experiment: “By far the most interesting experiment during the season was the elevation of Wilf Rosenberg, the 18-year-old University centre, to provincial status in the match against Northern Transvaal [which Northern Transvaal won 19-17 at Ellis Park]. The youngster did quite well but, unfortunately, injury laid him low, though he did enough in the games in which he played to show that he deserves every encouragement.”
In 1953 the Wallabies came and Rosenberg played against them when they beat Transvaal Universities. Then came the great 1955 B&I Lions, and. Rosenberg again played against them for Transvaal Universities who again lost to the tourists. The Lions won the first Test of the series at Ellis Park – one of the greatest Tests in the history of the game.
The second Test was at Newlands, and Rosenberg was selected, hearing the news just after midnight on the radio. Tom van Vollenhoven had been moved to the wing and Rosenberg was chosen to partner Sinclair.
There were concerns about Rosenberg’s defence, especially as his immediate opponent would be burly Phil Davies, one of the very best centres in the world. But Doc Craven took Rosenberg in hand, teaching him how to tackle and on the Saturday, Rosenberg blotted out the Davies threat. South Africa scored seven tries in that 25-9 victory, and Rosenberg, on debut, scored one of the seven tries.
Rosenberg kept his place in the team for the next two Tests – defeat in Pretoria and victory in Port Elizabeth.
In 1956 the Springboks toured Australasia, winning two dull Tests in Australia and losing the series 3-1 in New Zealand, the Springboks’ first series loss for 60 years. For Rosenberg it was a miserable trip. He was one of the Springboks injured in pre-tour exercises and never really got his hamstring right. Of the 29 matches on the tour, he played in only five, one of them the third Test when he scored a long-range try.
In 1957 Rosenberg concentrated on his medical studies but returned to rugby in 1958 when the French came on tour. He played against them for Combined Universities and in the first Test of the two-Test series. It was at Newlands and the Springboks were captained by Johan Claassen who died just eight days before Rosenberg. The drab match was a three-all draw and signalled the end of Rosenberg’s Springbok career.
In 1959, just married to Elinor, Rosenberg signed a contract to play rugby league for Leeds for the record sum of £6 000. There he attended Leeds University, changing from medicine to dentistry. He had a stellar career with Leeds, setting a new try-scoring record of 48 tries in a season, a record which still stands.
He had three seasons with Leeds and then he, Elinor and their three children came back to South Africa. He set up as a periodontist with a flourishing practice in Florida on the West Rand. All that came tumbling down in 1970 when he suffered a stroked which left his right side partly paralysed and ended his career in dentistry. From then on he was involved in many projects – insurance, journalism, public relations and then boxing as a promoter where he was involved in promoting six world title fights.
Rosenberg was one of the rugby minyan of 10 Jewish Springboks. The others were Morris Zimerman, Fred Smollan, Louis Babrow, Cecil Moss, Okey Geffin, Syd Nomis, Joe Kaminer, Alan Menter and Joel Stransky. In 1994, Rosenberg became the third South African inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Israel.
In 1989 his wife Elinor succumbed after a long battle with cancer. His three children living overseas, divorced from his second wife and needing care. Rosenberg emigrated to Israel in early 2010 to be near his daughter Nicola Kroft.
Wilfred Rosenberg was born in Sea Point, Cape Town, on 18 June 1934. He died in Herzliya, Israel, on Monday, 14 January 2019, survived by his children Nicola, Andrea and Adam, who played for Transvaal schools and Under-20.
WILF ROSENBERG RIP
15th January 2019
By Phil Daly
It is with much sadness that the club has today learned of the death of 1961 Championship winner Wilf Rosenberg. The South African-born winger passed away overnight in hospital in Israel after suffering a stroke three days ago.
Born in Cape Town in 1934, but barely out of rompers before his parents emigrated to Australia, Wilf Rosenberg certainly didn’t suffer on that account, the grounding given at Sydney Grammar School bearing rich fruit at Johannesburg’s Jeppe High School when the family returned to South Africa in 1948. Indeed, by the time he was in his late teens the world of opportunity had become his oyster…
Maturing into a centre of pace and penetration with the Transvaal Under 19 side, he graduated to the Province’s Senior XV in 1953, and within a year was being pencilled in as an international prospect of exceptional merit. Nor did he fluff his chance when it came, selection for three Tests against the 1955 British Lions being followed by the Springbok tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1956, and the 2nd Test versus France in 1958, by which time he was happily reading Medicine at Wits University, and would possibly never even have considered a professional rugby career, had it not been for Van Vollenhoven and Prinsloo joining St Helens. As it was, the offer of a lucrative four-year contract, coupled with an assurance that he would be able to continue his studies at Leeds University, was far too tempting to refuse.
Acceptance in principle was simple; signing on the dotted line almost made Rugby League history! Unable to fly to England for a further fortnight, because of his impending marriage in Johannesburg, he granted powers of attorney to his father, who met Mr George Airey, the Leeds Chairman, in London, just a couple of days before the R.L. Cup deadline, to endorse the contract and sign the official Registration Form on his son’s behalf. Legal and above board, it all certainly was, but the Cup and Rules Committee wisely declined to create a precedent, ruling the form invalid.
Arriving with his bride in mid-February, and opting eventually for a four- year course in Dentistry, Wilf took longer than anticipated to tune up and acclimatise, yet suddenly clicked into action in the very last match of the season, selling a classic dummy in his own ‘25’, skating at speed over a midfield morass, and then accelerating round Pimblett, the Widnes full-back, to bring down the house with a sensationally spectacular dive for the touchdown.
The longer he played at centre, however, the more he looked like a winger. Moreover, whatever reservations he may have had initially after trial outings on the left flank, they were quickly dispelled in March 1960, when he teamed up on the right with Derek Hallas, a nine-match sequence yielding eleven tries of searing pace and unflinching resolution. Next season could not come soon enough!
Nor was it one that he is ever likely to forget! Six tries in August, seven in September, four more in October…by the end of the League programme the tally had reached 42. Where better to break Turnbull’s post-war Club record than at Headingley in the Championship Semi-Final against St Helens?
Where, indeed! A perfectly timed pass from Dennis Goodwin, a dive for the corner, and the record was his, albeit with precious little time to draw breath, let alone celebrate, as the battle ebbed and flowed. And then, just fifteen minutes from time, even as the beleaguered Loiners were clinging on grimly to their 8 – 4 lead, came a moment of glory to cherish for the rest of his days…
The breakout was sudden, slick passing between Barry Simms, Colin Evans and Derek Hallas putting him in possession some forty yards out…Mick Sullivan turned from challenging Hallas to find his quarry beyond pursuit…the covering Cliff Watson lunged in vain…full-back Austin Rhodes, guarding the touchline route, went for the push rather than a tackle and could only gape in disbelief as ‘The Flying Dentist’ scorched past, to touch down amid scenes
of indescribable emotion.
Regrettably, for all he played in the Final at Odsal, the try against St Helens was to be his last in Leeds colours. Extremely reluctant to regain form and confidence in the ‘A’ team, after sustaining a fractured jaw in an ultra-physical confrontation at Parkside, he was transferred to Hull at his own request, and shared a Boulevard debut versus Bramley on 9th December 1961 with the late, lamented Clive Sullivan. Some debut it was, too, with ‘Sully’ scoring three tries and Wilf two.
Bowing out at The Boulevard on 19th December 1964, when Leeds, ironically enough, were the victors by 23 points to 3, Wilf returned to South Africa to set up in practice as a Dental Surgeon, but has since been obliged to switch to Sports Promotion, following a stroke. Meanwhile, his post-war record of 44 tries remains intact!
Debut: versus Barrow at Headingley on 28th February 1959
Last match: versus Dewsbury at Headingley on 4th November 1961
Appearances: 81 Tries: 73 Goals: nil Points: 219