Brian “BJ” van Zyl has spent more than half a century around rugby.
His story began far from Durban. Born and raised in Pretoria, van Zyl attended Pretoria Boys’ High before beginning his working life in the South African Reserve Bank as an accounting clerk. A move influenced by the late, great Springbok coach Kitch Christie would change the course of his life - and eventually bring him to KwaZulu-Natal.
Christie came to coach van Zyl at the famous Harlequins Rugby Club in the nation’s capital. This is after he had convinced van Zyl to come work for him at his own business not long before this development. Years later, van Zyl would watch that same coach lead the Springboks to their historic 1995 Rugby World Cup triumph at Ellis Park.
He was there when Joel Stransky dropped the goal that won the final. He, alongside 65 000 other spectators, witnessed the late Laurie Kay and company piloting the SAA jet over the stadium ahead of the game against New Zealand. He saw Nelson Mandela arrive. He saw Madiba present the Webb Ellis Cup to Francois Pienaar. A red-letter day in BJ’s words.
But van Zyl's own rugby story had begun much earlier.
From Pretoria to Durban
When he arrived in Durban in the 1970s, van Zyl joined Collegians, encouraged by his friend and Natal rugby icon Tommy Bedford. A flanker, Brian went on to captain the club before representing and captaining Natal. A cherished memory is lifting the Murray Cup on a rainy afternoon as the skipper of Collegians at Kings Park, with his first daughter being born later that day!
Back then, it was a very different rugby world.
Officially, the game was amateur. In reality, the boundaries were becoming increasingly blurred.
Van Zyl has his own word for it.
“We were shamateurs, let's be honest, before rugby really became professional.”
Players still had their club blazers and looked after their own kit, but provincial rugby was becoming increasingly sophisticated. Natal was attracting players from elsewhere, and the professional era was approaching fast.
Then, in 1996, everything changed.
1996: When Natal became The Sharks
When rugby turned professional, the Natal Rugby Union needed to enter a new world.
That included a new identity.
Van Zyl was General Manager of the union and was directly involved in the discussions that eventually saw Natal become The Sharks.
It wasn't universally welcomed.
There was resistance within the rugby council. The name itself was questioned. There were jokes about loan sharks and second-hand car dealers.
But van Zyl and then-president Keith Parkinson stood firm.
“We dug our heels in.”
Eventually, the new identity was adopted.
The origins of the logo were equally organic. Ideas came forward, including one from the family behind the Sharks merchandise shop. Craig Jamieson, the captain of the side that won the union’s first Currie Cup in 1990, was among those who saw the potential in the new identity.
A shark emerged. Natal became The Sharks. And then the team had to prove that the new name belonged.
The year The Sharks arrived
1996 was extraordinary.
The Sharks reached the final of the inaugural Super 12, joining a new professional competition that would reshape club rugby and bring South African sides into regular competition with the best teams from Australia and New Zealand.
At home, there was the Currie Cup. The Sharks reached the final against a top class Transvaal side at Ellis Park.
Andre Joubert produced a performance for the ages. The Sharks won. Joubert would go on to be named South African Rugby Player of the Year.
For van Zyl, the significance went beyond the trophy.
“I think when we won the Currie Cup that day, I realised that The Sharks are now going to be something for the future.”
The name had survived the boardroom. Now it had a Currie Cup to its name. And van Zyl remembers one detail from the resistance to the new identity with particular amusement.
“The detractors were the first in the line for kit.”
The new identity was becoming theirs.
Taking The Sharks to the world
The professional game moved quickly.
The Super 10 became the Super 12. Van Zyl travelled extensively to New Zealand and Australia as the new competition developed, and The Sharks became increasingly recognised beyond South Africa.
“The Sharks brand then became so well-known and was known all over the world.”
For van Zyl, it was a remarkable period to be part of the game.
But rugby, as ever, moves in cycles.
He has seen the Sharks enjoy great success and endure difficult periods. He has watched the game change, the competitions change and the demands on professional organisations change with them.
And his view of what ultimately matters has remained refreshingly direct.
“Branding is fantastic. We've got good marketing, but what happens on the field at the end of the day is what's really very important.”
Because, ultimately:
“If you want to really be successful, you have to win.”
Another chapter
Thirty years after helping guide Natal through its transformation into The Sharks, van Zyl is watching another chapter unfold.
The Club is now Sharks Rugby Club.
The badge has changed. The organisation has evolved. And, as happened in 1996, not everyone has embraced the change immediately.
Van Zyl understands that. He has lived through it.
His own experience tells him that identity takes time to settle.
“One thing of having been Banana Boys, Sharks and Sharks Rugby Club is branding. I think times do change and you have to move on.”
He expects the same process to happen again. There will be people who remain attached to what came before. There will be detractors. And there will be supporters who embrace the new identity immediately.
But the old identity does not disappear. It becomes history. And the Club moves forward.
“Time is important in terms of moving on.”
From the Banana Boys, to The Sharks, to Sharks Rugby Club, Brian “BJ” van Zyl has lived through the evolution of a club. First as a player, then as a leader, and now as one of the people who remembers where it all came from.
The story continues.
