How The Flair Was Born: The Ballad of Hennie Daniller

Born in the outskirts of Bethlehem Henningford Olof Daniller was always to become a star. As a young lad he was determined to live his life as a nomadic crop-rotation consultant which may have had something to do with influences from father Koosie. His old man was the domineering type and as a farmer himself saw to it that his son, already 6 foot tall at the age of 7, followed the Daniller family trade.

Secondary school at ekisliefvirscrumming Hoerskool saw Hennie move away from his agricultural background and towards the world of recby (following the pronunciation of the word by Naas). Being about 40kg and 2 foot taller than any of his teammates Hennie was immediately drafted into the 'A' team. It was here, however, that Hennie wasn't afforded the coaching of the side-step or even perhaps the pass. His rather large left peg was given star status in the little dorpie school and Hennie was often found behind the biltong drying room with a few poppies. He went on to represent South Africa at schools and under-20 levels.

When Hennie moved on from his beloved school the allure of giving up rugby and joining the Boswell-Wilkie circus as a lion tamer gave the 19 year old some sleepless nights but clear thought prevailed and the most electrifying player we now have to watch began his career as a professional rugby player. The big lad, who doesn't have a Wikipedia page to get personal information from, was always going to play for the Cheetahs. His fashion sense and his all-too ripping hairstyle would have fitted in better in  Cape Town or perhaps even  in Paris but it was his playing style that just matched the style of the Free-State side. His attributes of acceleration and vision presented themselves as a revelation to Free-State rugby. His predilection for the traditional torpedo punt, a very surprising technique to adopted by a man from Os-country, was instantly adored by the Vodacom Park faithful and they have honoured Henningford with a position in the Bloem Hell's Angels that grace the field before every game upon his retirement.

So Hennie is a player that we all know and love; a man that every team would kill to have on the roster. Despite this South African rugby would, in all likelihood, rather pick Jabba the Hut at fullback for the Springboks rather than big Hennie. It has even been said that upon donning a pair of white boots he actually started having some sort of fit as a result of not knowing what to do with so much flair.

This is the first of a series of exposes some of the more exciting buds in the rugby world and we hope that these fact-filled, entirely citable and delictual-claim free articles will be found enjoyable. Dinkum.