Title: Victor – My Journey
Author: Victor Matfield with De Jongh Borchardt
Publisher: Random House/Struik
Review: Garth Johnstone
A World Cup winner, multiple Currie Cup and Super Rugby champion with the Bulls, a man who formed a partnership of steel with Bakkies Botha for the Bokke, committed family man and Pretoria icon … there’s few who would argue that Victor Matfield doesn’t deserve his own book.
And in reading Victor – My Journey, it becomes apparent that there’s plenty to tell, from Matfield’s sports obsessed (he was a pretty good cricketer apparently) and fairly idyllic upbringing in the small town of Pietersburg to his early days as a Bulls apprentice, to the hard fields of Kimberley, back to Loftus, Springbok stardom, France and further afield.
By the very nature of the autobiography, it’s often a bit of a “Me, me, me” scenario, and while it did occasionally get a little tiresome reading an endless series of sporting triumphs and about the golden life of big Victor, I think it’s also well balanced with insights into the world of rugby and some of the special relationships forged over the years. Close and enduring friendships with men like Pierre Spies, John Smit and Fourie du Preez, and later the coach Heyneke Meyer, give some insight into the man, while his loving relationship with wife Monja and his two daughters shine through in the story.
Intriguing were some of the insights into the corporate machinations and political roundabouts in South African rugby, Matfield’s excellent explanation of the varying tiers of South African rugby (ie Vodacom Cup, as opposed to Super Rugby or national honours) and the commitment and single-minded focus required to get to the top.
While it was generally a pretty blessed career in rugby for Big Vic, there was some strife and troubles along the way, including injury woes, fallings out with coaches and a few brief periods in the rugby wilderness. What emerges is a man absolutely set on making it in the sport of rugby, who fairly quickly came to understand the value of family and community, and who was prepared to stand up to authority when he felt he had a point to make.
While your average reader might get a little bored with the narrative, Springbok rugby fans will be engrossed in this thorough record of the career of one of the greatest ever players to wear the green and gold.