Jack Slater
Full names: John Thornhill
Date of birth: 16 Apr 1901
Place of birth: Grahamstown
School: Kingswood College
Springbok no: 188
Debut test province: Eastern Province
Physical: 1.79m, 83kg
Date of death: 16 Feb 1986 (Age 84)

Test summary: Tests: 3 Tries: 2
First Test: 13 Sep 1924 Age:23 Right Wing against Britain at Crusaders (St George's Park), Port Elizabeth
Last Test: 30 Jun 1928 Age:27 Left Wing against New Zealand at Kingsmead, Durban
Test history:
DateAgePositionOpponentResultScoreVenueProv
13 Sep 192423Right WingBritainDraw: 3-3 Crusaders (St George's Park), Port ElizabethEP
20 Sep 192423Right WingBritainWin: 16-91 tryNewlands, Cape TownEP
30 Jun 192827Left WingNew ZealandWin: 17-01 tryKingsmead, DurbanEP

Jack Slater : Doc Craven

His name touches a soft spot in my heart. Jack Slater was a thorough gentleman and a superb player. He and Stanley Osler were colleagues when I was at St Andrew's; how the boys respected them.

In 1928 Jack scored the only try in the first test against the All Blacks. He came back to Stellenbosch after that and took a course in education and then I had the opportunity of getting to know him better.

He always looked so fit and so well that when I was playing for Albany I begged him to turn out again. Mr Markotter also thought the world of him.

You know, its a strange thing that the Springboks of the 1920s were invariably such neat people in everything they did. It's a fact. Whether it was part of their education, background, upbringing or whatever, I don't know, but there was no exception. They were tidy and well-mannered and Jack Slater was one of the best among the best.