Ray Mordt


Raymond Herman "Ray" Mordt is a 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.

Playing career

Rugby union

Mordt grew up and started playing rugby in Rhodesia. He returned to South Africa and went to King Edward VII School. He played Wing for the Springboks where he captained the team 3 times 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 for the Springboks, scoring 12 tries for a total of 48 points.
Mordt played Currie Cup rugby for Zimbabwe, Transvaal and Northern Transvaal and scored 35 career tries.

Test history

No.OppositionResult PositionTriesDateVenue
1. South American Jaguars24–9Wing126 April 1980Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
2. South American Jaguars18–9Wing3 May 1980Kings Park Stadium, Durban
3.26–22Wing31 May 1980Newlands, Cape Town
4.26–19Wing14 June 1980Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
5.12–10Wing28 June 1980Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
6.13–17Wing12 July 1980Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
7. South American Jaguars22–13Wing18 October 1980Wanderers Club, Montevideo
8. South American Jaguars30–16Wing225 October 1980Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago
9.37–15Wing8 November 1980Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
10.12–10Wing6 June 1981Kings Park Stadium, Durban
11.9–14Wing15 August 1981Lancaster Park, Christchurch
12.24–12Wing29 August 1981Athletic Park, Wellington
13.22–25Wing312 September 1981Eden Park, Auckland
14.38–7Wing320 September 1981Owl Creek Polo ground, Glenville, New York
15. South American Jaguars50–18Wing227 March 1982Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
16. South American Jaguars12–21Wing3 April 1982Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
17. South American Jaguars32–15Wing20 October 1984Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
18. South American Jaguars22–13Wing127 October 1984Newlands, Cape Town

Accolades

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.

Rugby league

Mordt joined English rugby league club Wigan, making his début for them on the on Sunday, 5 January 1986 against Swinton. 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, 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.

Baseball

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

Coaching career

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