 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | William Eberhardt Bastard 10 February 1912 Kokstad,Natal, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Died | 14 February 1949(1949-02-14) (aged 37) Cedarville,Cape Province, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Hilton College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William Eberhardt Bastard, also known asEbbo Bastard (10 February 1912 – 14 February 1949), was a South Africanrugby union player fromKokstad,Natal. He predominantly played as aflanker and played forNatal and theSouth Africa national rugby union team. On 14 February 1949 he was shot dead by his wife's ex-husband.[1]
Bastard was educated atHilton College. After leaving school, he started farming, which was his profession for the rest of his life. DuringWorld War II he joined theSouth African Army and was assigned to theNatal Mounted Rifles, seeing serving with the unit in theWestern Desert campaign.[2]
Bastard started playing rugby for Kokstad RFC and made it onto the representative team ofNatal. He was highly thought of in Natal, but when trials for the1937 Springboks tour of Australia and New Zealand were announced atNewlands Stadium, Bastard was not invited. The Natal RFU were convinced he should be there, so they sponsored him to attend the trial without an invitation.[3]
Following an impressive performance at the trials, Bastard was called up to the South Africa national rugby team for the tour of Australia and New Zealand, becoming the first and only Kokstad player to play for the Springboks.[3] During his first match, he scored a try in a 9–5 win.[4] He also scored a try againstNew Zealand in the second test match atLancaster Park inChristchurch.[5]
During the tour, his surname became a point of contention. At the first banquet of the tour in Australia, he was introduced as "Ebbo Jardine" after the English cricketerDouglas Jardine, who captainedEngland during the infamous "bodyline" series againstAustralia.[6] During Australian and New Zealand radio match commentaries, he was referred to as "one player who we shall call Smith".[6][7] Following a match in Brisbane, he was spoken to by aQueensland Police Force constable who followed him, and caught Bastard and three other Springboks climbing a neon sign, which was smashed as a result.[6][8] The policeman had spoken to the other Springbok players before coming to Bastard and asked for his name. Being given the name and thinking it was a joke, the policeman said, "I don't want to know what you are, I want to know who you are".[8] Later in Sydney withDaantjie van de Vyver, a similar incident occurred when they were climbing lampposts. TheNew South Wales Police Force constable asked for their names; Bastard gave his and spelled it out for the policeman, with van de Vyver saying his surname straight afterward. The policeman replied, "No bastard is going to get afiver out of me".[3] He also played for the Springboks a year later against theBritish Lions in his last test match for South Africa.[9]
| No. | Opponents | Results (SA 1st) | Position | Tries | Dates | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Australia | 9–5 | Flank | 1 | 26 Jun 1937 | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney |
| 2. |  New Zealand | 7–13 | Flank | 14 Aug 1937 | Athletic Park, Wellington | |
| 3. | New Zealand | 13–6 | Flank | 1 | 4 Sep 1937 | Lancaster Park, Christchurch |
| 4. | New Zealand | 17–6 | Flank | 25 Sep 1937 | Eden Park, Auckland | |
| 5. |  British Isles | 26–12 | Flank | 6 Aug 1938 | Ellis Park Park, Johannesburg | |
| 6. | British Isles | 16–21 | Flank | 10 Sep 1938 | Newlands, Cape Town |
When away from rugby, Bastard spent his time farming. He eventually moved to a farm inCedarville, where he lived next door to Una and Peter Young.[3] During this time, Bastard made open advances toward Una, who later left her husband and married Bastard.
One night at a cocktail party, Bastard and Una had taunted Young, who left and waited for Bastard to arrive home from the party. Once Bastard got out of the car,[10] Young shot him point blank in the chest. The Monday newspapers published the news as: "Ebbo Bastard murdered!".[11] Young also was injured in the shooting, but was arrested.[11]
Following Bastard's death, his wife and son, the future journalist and sausage merchantBill O'Hagan, adopted her maiden name.[12]
Bastard's name is given to the "Ebbo Bastard Trophy", a rugby trophy contested by regional teams inKwaZulu-Natal.[13]