Benjamin Robert Duff (16 October 1867 – 25 June 1943) was a South African
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
international. He also played a
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
match with
Western Province
Western Province or West Province may refer to:
* Western Province, Cameroon
*Western Province, Rwanda
*Western Province (Kenya)
*Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
*Western Province (Solomon Islands)
*Western Province, Sri Lanka
*Western Provin ...
.
Personal
Duff, born in
Swellendam
Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...
, had a brother
Colin who represented
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
at cricket and rugby. He married Isabel Watkinson.
Cricket career
Duff's cricket match was against Natal during the 1889/90 South African cricket season. Although he batted with the tail, at number 10 in both innings, Duff wasn't called on to bowl once in the match. He scored one and eight not out, dismissed by Test player
Gus Kempis
Gustav Adolph Kempis (4 August 1865 – 19 May 1890) was a South African cricketer who played in South Africa's inaugural Test match in March 1889.
Kempis was born in Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony. A left-arm medium pace bowler, he delivered ...
in the first dig. Western Province's wicket-keeper for this game,
Alfred Richards, was also a rugby union international and the duo appeared together in a Test with the
South African national rugby union team
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...
.
Rugby union career
In 1891, Duff played three rugby union Test matches in a home series against the British Isles. These were the first ever official Tests that South Africa played and due to the order in which players' names were listed on team sheets for a match at the time, Duff has the distinction of being the first Springbok. He played his games as a full-back and represented Western Province at provincial rugby.
Test history
See also
*
List of South Africa national rugby union players
South Africa national rugby union team players hold several international records. Several players from the South Africa national rugby union team have joined the IRB and International Hall of Fame.
Individual records
Career
South Africa's '' ...
– Springbok no. 1
References
External links
Cricinfo: Benjamin Duff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Benjamin
1867 births
1943 deaths
People from Swellendam
South African cricketers
Western Province cricketers
South African rugby union players
South Africa international rugby union players
Rugby union fullbacks
Western Province (rugby union) players
Hamilton RFC, Sea Point players
Alumni of South African College Schools
Rugby union players from the Western Cape
Cape Colony people