Wikipedia

Ray Mordt

Raymond Herman Mordt (born 15 February 1957 in Cape Town, South Africa)[1] is a Zimbabwean/South African rugby footballer who represented his country in rugby union before moving to English professional rugby league club, Wigan, with whom he won the Championship during the 1986–87 season. He is the uncle of England Sevens player Nils Mordt.

Ray Mordt
Personal information
Full nameRaymond Herman Mordt
Born (1957-02-15) 15 February 1957 (age 67)
Cape Town, South Africa
Playing information
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight14 st 9 lb (93 kg)
Rugby union
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1978–80 Rhodesia
1981–83 Transvaal
1984–85 Northern Transvaal
Total 0 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1980–84 South Africa 18 12 48
Rugby league
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1986–87 Wigan 25 16 0 0 4
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
Transvaal

Playing career edit

Rugby union edit

Mordt grew up and started playing rugby in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He went to Churchill High School in Salisbury. He played Wing for the Springboks where he captained the team 3 times (twice as a substitute) from 1980 until 1984. He made his début against the South American Jaguars on 26 April 1980 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. South Africa won the game 24–9. As a player, he may be best known for scoring 3 tries against the All Blacks in the famous "flour bomb" Test at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on 12 September 1981. South Africa lost the game 25–22. Ray Mordt played a total of 18 tests (plus 7 tour games)[2] for the Springboks, scoring 12 tries for a total of 48 points.[3]

Mordt played Currie Cup rugby for Zimbabwe, Transvaal and Northern Transvaal and scored 35 career tries.[4]

Test history edit

No. Opposition Result (SA 1st) Position Tries Date Venue
1.   South American Jaguars 24–9 Wing 1 26 April 1980 Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
2.   South American Jaguars 18–9 Wing 3 May 1980 Kings Park Stadium, Durban
3.   British Lions 26–22 Wing 31 May 1980 Newlands, Cape Town
4.   British Lions 26–19 Wing 14 June 1980 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
5.   British Lions 12–10 Wing 28 June 1980 Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
6.   British Lions 13–17 Wing 12 July 1980 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
7.   South American Jaguars 22–13 Wing 18 October 1980 Wanderers Club, Montevideo
8.   South American Jaguars 30–16 Wing 2 25 October 1980 Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago
9.   France 37–15 Wing 8 November 1980 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
10.   Ireland 12–10 Wing 6 June 1981 Kings Park Stadium, Durban
11.   New Zealand 9–14 Wing 15 August 1981 Lancaster Park, Christchurch
12.   New Zealand 24–12 Wing 29 August 1981 Athletic Park, Wellington
13.   New Zealand 22–25 Wing 3 12 September 1981 Eden Park, Auckland
14.   United States 38–7 Wing 3 20 September 1981 Owl Creek Polo ground, Glenville, New York
15.   South American Jaguars 50–18 Wing 2 27 March 1982 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
16.   South American Jaguars 12–21 Wing 3 April 1982 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
17.   South American Jaguars 32–15 Wing 20 October 1984 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
18.   South American Jaguars 22–13 Wing 1 27 October 1984 Newlands, Cape Town

Accolades edit

During his rugby union playing career Mordt was nominated for the SA Rugby Young Player of the Year in 1978 and SA Rugby Player of the Year in 1981, 1983 and 1984.[2]

Rugby league edit

Mordt joined English rugby league club Wigan, making his début for them on the Wing on Sunday, 5 January 1986 against Swinton.[5] he scored his first try for Wigan in the 44-6 victory over Hull F.C. at Central Park, Wigan on Sunday 2 March 1986, he played right wing, i.e. number 2, in Wigan's 11-8 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the 1985–86 John Player Special Trophy Final at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 11 January 1986, and was also part of the Championship-winning team during the 1986–87 season, he scored his last try for Wigan in the 54-2 victory over Oldham at Central Park, Wigan on Wednesday 8 April 1987, he played his last match for Wigan in the 24-6 victory over Oldham at Watersheddings, Oldham on Monday 20 April 1987, before retiring due to injury.[6]

Baseball edit

Mordt also represented Rhodesia in the 1978 inter-provincial tournament in Durban, South Africa.

Coaching career edit

After his active career Mordt has been engaged as a coach for the Springboks and other teams. In 1994 The International Rugby Board barred Mordt from joining South Africa's tour of Wales, Scotland and Ireland as a fitness instructor because of his time spent playing rugby league.[7]

As a coach Mordt has won the Currie Cup in 1994, coaching Transvaal.[8] He was also a crucial cog in the 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning coaching set-up of Kitch Christie.[9]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Ray Mordt player profile ESPN Scrum.com
  2. ^ a b "SA Rugby Player Profile – Ray Mordt". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Raymond Herman Mordt". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Currie Cup Individual Records". supersport.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Wigan Warriors Announce Heritage Numbers" (PDF). wiganwarriors.com. Wigan Warriors. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Ray Mordt". Cherry & White. rlfans.com. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  7. ^ Bale, Steve (16 September 1994). "Mordt banned from tour: IRB refuses to accept fitness instructor". The Independent. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Zim Boks are nothing new". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  9. ^ "RuggaWorldRay Mordt 'helping' Lions » RuggaWorld". Archived from the original on 20 May 2014.
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