WE DID IT FOR YOU, DAD

It was a dream come true for Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse when they ran out together for the Boks – but it was bittersweet too

- ROSS MICHAELS

THE Hendrikse family couldn’t have wished for a bigger or shinier bow with which to wrap up the year.

Both Jaden and Jordan were called up to the Springboks and everyone in their hometown came out to cheer for them when they donned the No 9 and No 10 jerseys for the last Test of 2024.

Jaden (24) and Jordan (23) became the 36th pair of brothers to play for the Boks – but as much as it was a dream come true, it was a sad day too.

Their dad, Brian, a sports administrator, had longed to see his boys playing together for their country. But it wasn’t to be – he died of a heart attack at the age of 60 on 29 June last year, a day after Jordan’s birthday.

Brian was very much in his sons’ hearts during the Boks’ 45-12 thumping of Wales in Cardiff recently and Jordan wore a white armband with a cross on one side and “Dad” written on the other.

If Brian had been alive he would’ve joined his wife, Joleen (50), daughter Jody (29) and dozens of people who crammed into the town hall in Breidbach in the Eastern Cape to watch the match. Jaden and Jordan grew up here and everyone knows them so it was an occasion for all to celebrate.

Joleen, a homemaker, and Jody, a teacher, found a table against the wall, a little removed from the hype and hubbub.

Joleen didn’t want attention on her – her sons are the role models in the community, she says, and she wanted them to get the limelight.

Jordan was called up to the Springboks Sevens squad for the London Sevens tournament in 2022 and had an impressive debut for the Blitzboks, while Jaden was selected for last year’s World Cup squad, two months after Brian’s passing.

He sat out a few matches to mourn his dad and was worried that this might cost him his future place on the team. But he needn’t have been concerned – Bok coach Rassie Erasmus selected him again and then called his younger brother up too.