Henry Honiball

{{Infobox rugby biography

| name = Henry Honiball

| image =

| school = Estcourt High School

| birth_name = Henry William Honiball

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|12|1|df=y}}

| birth_place = Estcourt, South Africa

| height = {{height|m=1.85}}

| weight = {{cvt|98|kg|lb stlb}}

| occupation =

| university = University of the Free State

| spouse =

| children =

| relatives =

| ru_position = Fly-half, Centre

| amatyears1 =

| amatteam1 =

| years1 = 1999–2000

| clubs1 = Bristol

| apps1 = 13

| points1 = 178

| superyears1 = 1996–1999

| super1 = Sharks

| superapps1 = ?

| superpoints1 = 356

| ru_provinceyears1 = 1989–1991

| ru_province1 = {{Rut|Free State}}

| ru_provinceapps1 = 38

| ru_provincepoints1 =

| ru_provinceyears2 = 1992–1999

| ru_province2 = {{Rut|Sharks (Currie Cup)|CC=y}}

| ru_provinceapps2 = 111

| ru_provincepoints2 =

| repyears1 = 1993–1999

| repteam1 = South Africa

| repcaps1 = 35

| reppoints1 = 156

| ru_sevensnationalyears1 = 1994

| ru_sevensnationalteam1 = South Africa

| ru_sevensnationalcomp1 = 1

| website =

}}

Henry William Honiball (born 1 December 1965) is a South African former professional rugby union footballer.{{Cite web|title=Henry Honiball|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/southafrica/rugby/player/11571.html|access-date=1 January 2021|website=ESPN scrum}} He usually played at fly-half and sometimes as a centre.

Honiball played for {{Rut|Free State}} early in his career, but is best known for his time with Natal and the Sharks. Towards the end of his career he had a spell with English club Bristol. He won 35 caps for South Africa from 1993 to 1999, during the early post-apartheid era.

Biography

Honiball had a very expansive running game which brought the loose-forwards into the game quickly.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dispatch.co.za/1997/11/13/page%2024.htm |title=page 24 |access-date=7 June 2007 |archive-date=17 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517042509/http://www.dispatch.co.za/1997/11/13/page%2024.htm |url-status=dead }} He was also very tall for a fly-half and extremely physical, being a strong tackler and not afraid to take the ball and challenge the opposition.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_world_cup/teams/south_africa/446515.stm BBC News | South Africa | Key player: Henry Honiball] He earned his nickname of 'Lem', which is Afrikaans for 'blade', for his ability to 'cut' through his opponent's defence.[http://www.sharksrugby.co.za/default.asp?Id=13627&des=content Sharks Rugby]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Paired in the halves with Joost van der Westhuizen, Honiball was an integral part of Nick Mallett's legendary Springbok squad which equalled the record of 17 consecutive Test victories, a record shared with New Zealand. Honiball played in 14 of the 17 victories, which included the clean sweep of the 1998 Tri Nations Series, the Springboks' first-ever series victory. Such was his reading, distribution and tactical knowledge of the game that he had an enviable Springbok success rate of nearly 75 per cent.

He made his debut in 1993 against the Wallabies in Sydney, coming on as a replacement. Although South Africa lost the match 19–12, Honiball was also a member of the South African team that mauled Australia 61–22 during the 1997 Tri Nations tournament, (which was only replaced on 30 August 2008 with a 53–8 win to South Africa in Johannesburg during the 2008 Tri Nations Series) as Australia's heaviest ever defeat.[https://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=943 Henry Honiball - South Africa Rugby Player - Rugby-Heroes.net] However, in the aftermath of the record-equalling streak, Honiball was understood to have been affected by the sensational axing of captain and close friend Gary Teichmann.{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10839|first=Wynne|last=Gray|date=30 June 2000|title=Rugby: Bok hopes dive with Honiball in doubt|publisher=New Zealand Herald}} After the Springboks struggled to find their rhythm in the following year's Tri Nations tournament, Mallett had considered recalling Honiball for the match against New Zealand in Pretoria. He had only just returned from serious injury and was playing well for club side Natal, but revealed that he had suffered an ankle injury, so Mallett sent him to see a specialist in Johannesburg. Honiball retired from international rugby after the Springboks beat New Zealand in the 1999 Rugby World Cup third/fourth place play-off.

After the World Cup, he played one season for Bristol, amassing 283 points before a serious neck injury forced him to retire.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/850264.stm BBC SPORT | RUGBY UNION | Honiball retires from game]

= Test history =

No.	Opposition	Result (SA 1st)	Position	Points	Date	Venue
class="wikitable sortable"
1.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|12–19	Replacement		21 August 1993	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 2.	{{ru\|ARG}}	align="center"\|52–23	Fly-half		13 November 1993	Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
3.	{{ru\|SAM}}	align="center"\|60–8	Replacement		13 April 1995	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 4.	{{ru\|FIJ}}	align="center"\|43–18	Fly-half	10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties)	2 July 1996	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
5.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|16–21	Fly-half	8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties)	13 July 1996	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 6.	{{ru\|NZL}}	align="center"\|32–22	Fly-half	8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties)	31 August 1996	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
7.	{{ru\|ARG}}	align="center"\|46–15	Fly-half	9 (3 conversions, 1 penalty)	9 November 1996	Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 8.	{{ru\|ARG}}	align="center"\|44–21	Fly-half	14 (4 conversions, 2 penalties)	16 November 1996	Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
9.	{{ru\|FRA}}	align="center"\|22–12	Fly-half	12 (4 penalties)	30 November 1996	Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 10.	{{ru\|FRA}}	align="center"\|13–12	Fly-half	8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties)	7 December 1996	Parc des Princes, Paris
11.	{{ru\|WAL}}	align="center"\|37–20	Fly-half	10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties)	15 December 1996	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 12.	{{ru\|TON}}	align="center"\|74–10	Fly-half		10 June 1997	Newlands, Cape Town
13.	{{flag\|British and Irish Lions\|name=British Lions}}	align="center"\|16–25	Fly-half	3 (1 penalty)	21 June 1997	Newlands, Cape Town
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 14.	{{flag\|British and Irish Lions\|name=British Lions}}	align="center"\|15–18	Fly-half		28 June 1997	Kings Park Stadium, Durban
15.	{{flag\|British and Irish Lions\|name=British Lions}}	align="center"\|35–16	Replacement	2 (1 conversion)	5 July 1997	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 16.	{{ru\|NZL}}	align="center"\|32–35	Replacement		19 July 1997	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
17.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|20–32	Replacement		2 August 1997	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 18.	{{ru\|NZL}}	align="center"\|35–55	Centre	4 (2 conversions)	9 August 1997	Eden Park, Auckland
19.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|61–22	Centre		23 August 1997	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 20.	{{ru\|ITA}}	align="center"\|62–31	Fly-half	17 (7 conversions, 1 penalty)	8 November 1997	Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna
21.	{{ru\|FRA}}	align="center"\|36–32	Fly-half	11 (4 conversions, 1 penalty)	15 November 1997	Stade de Gerland, Lyon
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 22.	{{ru\|FRA}}	align="center"\|52–10	Fly-half	22 (1 try, 7 conversions, 1 penalty)	22 November 1997	Parc des Princes, Paris
23.	{{ru\|ENG}}	align="center"\|29–11	Fly-half	7 (2 conversions, 1 penalty)	29 November 1997	Twickenham, London
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 24.	{{ru\|WAL}}	align="center"\|96–13	Replacement		27 June 1998	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
25.	{{ru\|ENG}}	align="center"\|18–0	Fly-half		4 July 1998	Newlands, Cape Town
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 26.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|14–13	Fly-half		18 July 1998	Subiaco Oval, Perth
27.	{{ru\|NZL}}	align="center"\|13–3	Fly-half		25 July 1998	Athletic Park, Wellington
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 28.	{{ru\|NZL}}	align="center"\|24–23	Fly-half		15 August 1998	Kings Park, Durban
29.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|29–15	Fly-half		29 August 1998	Ellis Park, Johannesburg
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 30.	{{ru\|WAL}}	align="center"\|28–20	Fly-half		14 November 1998	Wembley, London
31.	{{ru\|SCO}}	align="center"\|35–10	Fly-half		21 November 1998	Murrayfield, Edinburgh
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 32.	{{ru\|IRE}}	align="center"\|27–13	Fly-half		28 November 1998	Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin
33.	{{ru\|ENG}}	align="center"\|7–13	Fly-half		5 December 1998	Twickenham, London
style="background: #D0E6FF;" \| 34.	{{ru\|AUS}}	align="center"\|21–27	Replacement		30 October 1999	Twickenham, London
35.	{{ru\|NZL}}	align="center"\|22–18	Fly-half	11 (1 conversion, 3 penalties)	4 November 1999	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff