Martin Pelser: One-eyed Bok who terrorised the All Blacks into submission

Springbok fans are notoriously one-eyed in support of their team, but have you heard about the Springbok flanker who literally had one eye?

Martin Pelser lost his left eye when he went through the windscreen of his father’s car in an accident when he was just three, yet became a great Springbok flank.

His only adjustment was to pack down on the right side of the scrum so his good eye could scan the open field.

Colin Meads, the player many regard as the greatest rugby player of all time, sang Pelser’s praises highly. The All Black lock bestrode the global game like a colossus for over 15 years and 133 games for New Zealand.

In 1974, when Meads looked back on his career and picked a Best Ever XV, Pelser — a humble fitter and turner from the wrong side of the tracks in Johannesburg — was one of his flanks.

Meads said of his choice of flank: “I think first of Martin Pelser, the one-eyed Springbok. What a player he was. He was one of the hardest, most skilful players that I ever played against. Pelser was just a bloody pain in the neck to the All Blacks of 1960 (when they toured South Africa). I mean that in the best possible way. He gave our scrumhalf Kevin Briscoe a hell of a time, and right through the whole tour, these two were mighty scratchy with each other.

Martin Pelser tries to decapitate Kevin Briscoe.

After rugby, Pelser became a champion marathon runner.

“He stood no nonsense from me and (another All Black legend) Kel Tremain either,” Meads continued.

“On that tour, Kel and I looked after the back of the lineout. One would push Pelser, and then the other would jump for the ball. We alternated doing this. But when Kel pushed Pelser, Pelser belted him. And when it was my turn to look after Pelser while Kel jumped, Pelser didn’t hesitate. There I was diplomatically trying to hide in the developing ruck when he belted me too. I’d love to have had him in my team.”

Pelser was a late starter in the game. He played soccer until he was 16 because his mother feared he would injure his good eye in rugby. But rugby’s toughness proved too alluring, and once he started playing, he flourished for two basic reasons.

First, he subjected himself to a relentless fitness regime, and this paved the way for the second reason he gave for his success — he said the only useful coaching advice he ever got was to never walk on the rugby field. He never did and was the busiest player on the field.

On a Monday after New Year’s Day, he would start running every morning for an hour, and every second day he would do another hour, but it had to be a longer distance than the day before.

There was no weight training in that era and Pelser said his powerful physique was due to lugging heavy machinery around in his overalls at work.

He was so fit that he was disappointed when the referee blew the final whistle. He would say, “But I am just warming up.”

After he made his Springbok debut against touring France in 1958, he was inevitably asked how his vision impediment affected his game. He answered: “Would I have been a better player if I had two eyes? I don’t think so. It never worried me growing up, and it has never worried me as a player. I feel I have always had perfect vision and, in any case, rugby is a simple game to me — I just love to chase after the ball.”

When Meads and the All Blacks toured in 1960, an intriguing sideshow was the running battle across all four Tests between scrumhalf Briscoe and Pelser, the jackal mercilessly hunting down the hare.

After the Boks had won the series 2-1, with one Test drawn, renowned Kiwi critic Terry McLean rated Pelser as the best Bok on show: “Martin Pelser was Briscoe’s bête noire and undoubtedly the finest loose forward — friend or foe — of the tour and no man contributed more to the Boks winning the series than him.

“In the fourth Test, Briscoe was put to the ground as if pole-axed except the axe was a fist and the pole was Pelser and a South African newspaperman swore it was the best left hook since Joe Louis.”

Pelser, though, said he never punched unless provoked. “I was not a dirty player, but I felt it was my duty as a Springbok to retaliate if I was hit first.”

Reportedly, the whole of Boet Erasmus Stadium in Port Elizabeth saw that punch as clearly as they saw Pelser score the winning try in the fourth Test there to clinch the series for the Boks. This prompted McLean to write: “Shouting, cheering spectators engulfed the great Pelser and chaired him off the field, and rightfully so because he completely confounded New Zealand’s hopes that day.”

Pelser played 11 Tests between 1958 and 1961, losing just one before his career came to an unfortunate end when he was just 27.

For some time, he had been targeted by British rugby league scouts, and while he turned down numerous offers to join the paid game in England, he took the bait when asked to help set up a rugby league competition in South Africa. He was paid R3,000 for his troubles, but the venture was a complete failure, and the strict rules governing rugby union meant he was banned from the amateur game.

Rugby would only turn professional in 1996.

Pelser was philosophical about the end of his career after the rugby league flop.

“The money I got bought me a house, and that was a big help for a fitter and turner.”

And like Forest Gump, Pelser never stopped running. He turned to marathons and won many medals in his age group, running the Comrades well into his old age.

Springbok legend Frik du Preez loves telling a story about Martin Pelser.

“Martin made his debut for the Boks in the Test against France at Newlands in 1958. This one Frenchman caused trouble incessantly. In that era of rugby, there were no yellow or red cards, and you had to do something drastic to get sent off. The referee became increasingly frustrated with this fellow’s constant niggling.

“Suddenly this fresh-faced flank completely pole-axed the Frenchman. As the players gathered around the felled rooster, the referee said to Martin: ‘Thanks mate, you should have belted him long ago.’”

Pelser died in 2018, aged 84.

He was so fit that he was disappointed when the referee blew the final whistle. He would say, “But I am just warming up.”

After he made his Springbok debut against touring France in 1958, he was inevitably asked how his vision impediment affected his game. He answered: “Would I have been a better player if I had two eyes? I don’t think so. It never worried me growing up, and it has never worried me as a player. I feel I have always had perfect vision and, in any case, rugby is a simple game to me — I just love to chase after the ball.”

When Meads and the All Blacks toured in 1960, an intriguing sideshow was the running battle across all four Tests between scrumhalf Briscoe and Pelser, the jackal mercilessly hunting down the hare.

After the Boks had won the series 2-1, with one Test drawn, renowned Kiwi critic Terry McLean rated Pelser as the best Bok on show: “Martin Pelser was Briscoe’s bête noire and undoubtedly the finest loose forward — friend or foe — of the tour and no man contributed more to the Boks winning the series than him.

“In the fourth Test, Briscoe was put to the ground as if pole-axed except the axe was a fist and the pole was Pelser and a South African newspaperman swore it was the best left hook since Joe Louis.”

Pelser, though, said he never punched unless provoked. “I was not a dirty player, but I felt it was my duty as a Springbok to retaliate if I was hit first.”

Reportedly, the whole of Boet Erasmus Stadium in Port Elizabeth saw that punch as clearly as they saw Pelser score the winning try in the fourth Test there to clinch the series for the Boks. This prompted McLean to write: “Shouting, cheering spectators engulfed the great Pelser and chaired him off the field, and rightfully so because he completely confounded New Zealand’s hopes that day.”

Pelser played 11 Tests between 1958 and 1961, losing just one before his career came to an unfortunate end when he was just 27.

For some time, he had been targeted by British rugby league scouts, and while he turned down numerous offers to join the paid game in England, he took the bait when asked to help set up a rugby league competition in South Africa. He was paid R3,000 for his troubles, but the venture was a complete failure, and the strict rules governing rugby union meant he was banned from the amateur game.

Rugby would only turn professional in 1996.

Pelser was philosophical about the end of his career after the rugby league flop.

“The money I got bought me a house, and that was a big help for a fitter and turner.”

And like Forest Gump, Pelser never stopped running. He turned to marathons and won many medals in his age group, running the Comrades well into his old age.

Springbok legend Frik du Preez loves telling a story about Martin Pelser.

“Martin made his debut for the Boks in the Test against France at Newlands in 1958. This one Frenchman caused trouble incessantly. In that era of rugby, there were no yellow or red cards, and you had to do something drastic to get sent off. The referee became increasingly frustrated with this fellow’s constant niggling.

“Suddenly this fresh-faced flank completely pole-axed the Frenchman. As the players gathered around the felled rooster, the referee said to Martin: ‘Thanks mate, you should have belted him long ago.’”

Pelser died in 2018, aged 84.