James Terence Small (10 February 1969 – 10 July 2019) was a South African rugby union winger who played for the Springboks.
[3] Small played much of his provincial career under coach Harry Viljoen, following him from Transvaal to Natal in 1993, and to Western Province in 1998.
That same year he returned to the Transvaal, then known as the Golden Lions, but "had a string of discipline problems with former All Black coach Laurie Mains".
His first Test match in 1992 was the first for the Springboks at the dawn of the new, internationally acceptable South Africa following the release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of the ANC.
[6] His response was that in his early days of playing rugby, he too was discriminated against, by Afrikaner players, for being of British descent rather than Dutch like they were.
[6] When the Springboks visited Robben Island on a tour, Small was very moved by what he saw and visibly wept,[6] recalling later that "Thinking about Mandela's cell and how he spent twenty-seven years in prison and came out with love and friendship.
Small's career was marred by his verbal abuse of others on the rugby field, gaining notoriety as being the "bad boy" of the Springbok team.
[3] Small was involved with the Investec Rugby Academy, before being appointed Pukke assistant coach for the 2014 Varsity Cup.
[14] He also attempted suicide in 2001, following the break up and was hospitalised and sectioned under South Africa's Mental Health Care Act for 3 months.
Small died in hospital on Wednesday morning on 10 July 2019, at the age of 50, after suffering a heart attack while having drinks at The Harem, a strip club in Johannesburg.
Former Springboks who attended included James Dalton, Kobus Wiese, Pierre Spies, Rudolf Straeuli, John Smit and Stefan Terblanche.
The South African Rugby Legends Association established a fundraising initiative in aid of James Small's family.
Some examples are cited below: "The African National Congress (ANC) is shocked and saddened by the passing of former Springbok player, James Small.
He played with extraordinary passion and commitment, for he knew that everytime he walked onto the field, he carried the hopes of the nation on his shoulders.