# Henry Honiball

Henry William Honiball (born 1 December 1965) is a South African former professional rugby union footballer. He usually played at fly-half and sometimes as a centre.
Honiball played for Free State early in his career, but is best known for his time with Natal and the Sharks. Towards the end of his career he had a spell with English club Bristol. He won 35 caps for South Africa from 1993 to 1999, during the early post-apartheid era.

## Biography

Honiball had a very expansive running game which brought the loose-forwards into the game quickly. He was also very tall for a fly-half and extremely physical, being a strong tackler and not afraid to take the ball and challenge the opposition. He earned his nickname of 'Lem', which is Afrikaans for 'blade', for his ability to 'cut' through his opponent's defence. Paired in the halves with Joost van der Westhuizen, Honiball was an integral part of Nick Mallett's legendary Springbok squad which equalled the record of 17 consecutive Test victories, a record shared with New Zealand. Honiball played in 14 of the 17 victories, which included the clean sweep of the 1998 Tri Nations Series, the Springboks' first-ever series victory. Such was his reading, distribution and tactical knowledge of the game that he had an enviable Springbok success rate of nearly 75 per cent.
He made his debut in 1993 against the Wallabies in Sydney, coming on as a replacement. Although South Africa lost the match 19–12, Honiball was also a member of the South African team that mauled Australia 61–22 during the 1997 Tri Nations tournament, (which was only replaced on 30 August 2008 with a 53–8 win to South Africa in Johannesburg during the 2008 Tri Nations Series) as Australia's heaviest ever defeat. However, in the aftermath of the record-equalling streak, Honiball was understood to have been affected by the sensational axing of captain and close friend Gary Teichmann. After the Springboks struggled to find their rhythm in the following year's Tri Nations tournament, Mallett had considered recalling Honiball for the match against New Zealand in Pretoria. He had only just returned from serious injury and was playing well for club side Natal, but revealed that he had suffered an ankle injury, so Mallett sent him to see a specialist in Johannesburg. Honiball retired from international rugby after the Springboks beat New Zealand in the 1999 Rugby World Cup third/fourth place play-off.
After the World Cup, he played one season for Bristol, amassing 283 points before a serious neck injury forced him to retire.

### Test history

| No. | Opposition | Result (SA 1st) | Position | Points | Date | Venue |
| 1. | Australia | 12–19 | Replacement | | 21 August 1993 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney |
| 2. | Argentina | 52–23 | Fly-half | | 13 November 1993 | Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires |
| 3. | Samoa | 60–8 | Replacement | | 13 April 1995 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| 4. | Fiji | 43–18 | Fly-half | 10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties) | 2 July 1996 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
| 5. | Australia | 16–21 | Fly-half | 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) | 13 July 1996 | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney |
| 6. | New Zealand | 32–22 | Fly-half | 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) | 31 August 1996 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| 7. | Argentina | 46–15 | Fly-half | 9 (3 conversions, 1 penalty) | 9 November 1996 | Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires |
| 8. | Argentina | 44–21 | Fly-half | 14 (4 conversions, 2 penalties) | 16 November 1996 | Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires |
| 9. | France | 22–12 | Fly-half | 12 (4 penalties) | 30 November 1996 | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux |
| 10. | France | 13–12 | Fly-half | 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) | 7 December 1996 | Parc des Princes, Paris |
| 11. | Wales | 37–20 | Fly-half | 10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties) | 15 December 1996 | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff |
| 12. | Tonga | 74–10 | Fly-half | | 10 June 1997 | Newlands, Cape Town |
| 13. | British Lions | 16–25 | Fly-half | 3 (1 penalty) | 21 June 1997 | Newlands, Cape Town |
| 14. | British Lions | 15–18 | Fly-half | | 28 June 1997 | Kings Park Stadium, Durban |
| 15. | British Lions | 35–16 | Replacement | 2 (1 conversion) | 5 July 1997 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| 16. | New Zealand | 32–35 | Replacement | | 19 July 1997 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| 17. | Australia | 20–32 | Replacement | | 2 August 1997 | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane |
| 18. | New Zealand | 35–55 | Centre | 4 (2 conversions) | 9 August 1997 | Eden Park, Auckland |
| 19. | Australia | 61–22 | Centre | | 23 August 1997 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
| 20. | Italy | 62–31 | Fly-half | 17 (7 conversions, 1 penalty) | 8 November 1997 | Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna |
| 21. | France | 36–32 | Fly-half | 11 (4 conversions, 1 penalty) | 15 November 1997 | Stade de Gerland, Lyon |
| 22. | France | 52–10 | Fly-half | 22 (1 try, 7 conversions, 1 penalty) | 22 November 1997 | Parc des Princes, Paris |
| 23. | England | 29–11 | Fly-half | 7 (2 conversions, 1 penalty) | 29 November 1997 | Twickenham, London |
| 24. | Wales | 96–13 | Replacement | | 27 June 1998 | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria |
| 25. | England | 18–0 | Fly-half | | 4 July 1998 | Newlands, Cape Town |
| 26. | Australia | 14–13 | Fly-half | | 18 July 1998 | Subiaco Oval, Perth |
| 27. | New Zealand | 13–3 | Fly-half | | 25 July 1998 | Athletic Park, Wellington |
| 28. | New Zealand | 24–23 | Fly-half | | 15 August 1998 | Kings Park, Durban |
| 29. | Australia | 29–15 | Fly-half | | 29 August 1998 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg |
| 30. | Wales | 28–20 | Fly-half | | 14 November 1998 | Wembley, London |
| 31. | Scotland | 35–10 | Fly-half | | 21 November 1998 | Murrayfield, Edinburgh |
| 32. | Ireland | 27–13 | Fly-half | | 28 November 1998 | Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin |
| 33. | England | 7–13 | Fly-half | | 5 December 1998 | Twickenham, London |
| 34. | Australia | 21–27 | Replacement | | 30 October 1999 | Twickenham, London |
| 35. | New Zealand | 22–18 | Fly-half | 11 (1 conversion, 3 penalties) | 4 November 1999 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff |