A passion for rugby, Percy Wedderburn

Percy Wedderburn, top row, second from the right.
Orange Free State Rugby team

Percy Wedderburn, centre back row.

Percy Wedderburn, my paternal grandfather, loved the game of rugby and played for the Orange Free State. Lack of funding kept him from playing for South Africa on an overseas tour.

Letter done, folded and then Grandpa Percy must have been annoyed by a game he was listening to and added this final thought.

His letters written in his seventies show his ongoing involvement in the game and he certainly continued to have an opinion too! 

The Wallabies in the June '63 letter are a 'useful side they seem to have had the better of E Transvaal in all departments.'

The Wallabies again, in the August '63 letter, have shaken up the Boks and I can feel his frustration as he writes of their short-comings to my Dad.

I love the typical rugby supporter archetype, he is clear who should be dropped from the team, nothing has changed all these decades later, its what I hear from my Dad and from Fred.

Aunty Dolly self published her biography called "The Drive to Dance" in 1997 and I have copied this piece on Percy Wedderburn from her book: