I saw Jack shortly before he passed away in 1989. He came from Griquastad and as a youngster went to UCT to study medicine and later completed his studies overseas at Trinity College in Dublin.

Jack was a menace to the All Blacks of 1928. They had a lot of respect for him because he was all over the field. This was before the specialisation of forwards and he would work from the back of the scrum and cover the field like a blanket.

I was playing for Northern Transvaal when they split from Transvaal in 1938 and it was then that I met this marvellous old Bok. He had the ability to make you feel as if you were something special.

Whenever I went to Pretoria I always sought him out and had a few words with him. His wife invariably accompanied him to rugby matches and what a wonderful couple they were. And what an inspiration to meet a person of the calibre of Jack van Druten. As a player and as a human being everything about him impressed me; his playing ability, his humility and his humanity. An exceptional person.