ABSTRACT
Rugby continued to capture the imagination of many Afrikaners. The gradual Afrikaner appropriation of the game was not without paradox: given the main thrust of Afrikaner nationalism that was often directed against the perceived hegemony of English culture, why did Afrikaners then show such a strong interest in a game that originated in England and that epitomized the British upper-middle-class value system? It has to be recognized that even if nationalist cultural entrepreneurs had hoped to establish a completely new and authentic all-Afrikaner culture, such a project was not always feasible or viable. To create a pure, hermetically sealed culture is not easily accomplished; it is often more practical to adapt, reshape and mould whatever promising material is at hand. In the case of rugby, Afrikaners had already proved that they could excel at the game, and it therefore made sense to proceed in Afrikanerizing rugby.
