Before becoming South African schoolboy rugby’s most well-known over-age fraudster, TV audiences might have seen Siyabonga Tom wearing the green jersey and white shorts of Glenwood or perhaps the green jersey and white shorts of the SA Schools team. This past weekend he was back on TV, wearing the number 21 for Spring Rose from the Eastern Province in the Cell C Community Cup. The club’s outfit colour combination is, yes you guessed it – green and white! Oh yes and by the way he now goes by the name of “Mphuma” Tom and on his SARugby.net profile his date of birth has changed quite significantly.
| PERSONAL DETAILS | PERSONAL DETAILS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | Siyabonga | FULL NAME | Phumezo Orlando | |
| SURNAME | Tom | SURNAME | Tom | |
| HEIGHT | 170 cm | HEIGHT | 177 cm | |
| WEIGHT | 78 Kg | WEIGHT | 80 Kg | |
| BIRTH DATE | 27-Nov-94 | BIRTH DATE | 09-Dec-89 | |
| BIRTH PLACE | Port Elizabeth | BIRTH PLACE | Port Elizabeth | |
| MARITIAL STATUS | Single | MARITIAL STATUS | Single | |
| FAVOURITE FILM | Alien vs Predator | FAVOURITE FILM | Pirates of the Caribean | |
| FAVOURITE MUSIC | Hip hop | FAVOURITE MUSIC | ||
| FAVOURITE FOOD | Traditional Food | FAVOURITE FOOD | Mvuzo | |
| PRIMARY SCHOOL | David Vuku | PRIMARY SCHOOL | Dawid Vuku | |
| SECONDARY SCHOOL | Glenwood High School | SECONDARY SCHOOL | Thamiso Aqa | |
| ACHIEVEMENTS | Sharks Under 19 2011 | COMMUNITY CUP | Spring Rose (EP) 2014 | |
| SA Schools 2011 | VARSITY CUP | NMMU 2013 | ||
| KZN Craven Week 2011 | ||||
| KZN Grant Khomo 2010 | ||||
| KZN Grant Khomo 2009 |
Commenting on a story from 10 years ago, beacuse something similar has happened again. This story started after a comment by myself having seen Siyabonga Tom playing on TV. I just sat down with a cup of tea flicking through channels and i find the Griffons v Eastern Province game on Supersport. And i see Mbembe Payi , another famous overage player from thay era, playing for EP.
@Gungets Tuft: But he’s already at Glenwood – no need to go to Bloem to attend an Afrikaans school
@Pedantic: It’s going to be damned hard to explain it away if the boy goes to GCB and his boet stays in Durban. But, if his boet finishes this year, and little boetie leaves and goes to Bloem, perhaps dad will have mysteriously been “relocated”. It’s happened before ….
Perhaps he needs to go to an Afrikaans medium school. …..
Pedantic – lets accept it – reality is that SBR is professional or by whatever name people wish to call it – this wont go away
@Greenwood: So I guess the “Anti Poaching Charter” we heard about in November 2013 is out the window?
Both Glenwood and GC were on the list of 24 schools.
Hopper I understand – I assume GC must have seen the boy otherwise there wud be no discussions with parents – for GC to see the boy they would have made the effort to send a scout to Dbn – so why cant GW see the potential – he is on a 75% Scholarship and although he resides in Dbn
he is at the GWD BE & GC have offered him 100% – really strange
that GW are sitting on the fence here
@Greenwood: Well, I’m staying out of this as I tried on numerous occasions to reason with the Old Boy Chairman and the headmaster without luck so don’t think they going to listen to me or anyone else. If they see he is that good they should do their utmost to retain him and tell Grey Bloem to back off…
Hopper – off the subject here
On Saturday at GWD rugby trials I noticed a U14 player on Madsens
who was astounding – he scored 4 tries in 15 minutes – a thin lanky lad
who made Kurtis Jonas look like a Sumo wrestler – he bounced from one foot to another and no one could tackle him – Now here lies the issue –
My son is in Matric with his brother and I was told by the Boet that Grey College are in discussions with his parents about getting this lightie up the the Free State and talks have been ongoing – this kid is good at any sport especially hockey , athletics , water polo you name it – he’s good at it – the boys say that GWD are not doing enough to ensure he remains at GWD – I have a name and address and if you contact Beet he can give u my email – The Boet even said maybe this should be posted on this site as this would be a huge potential loss to Gwd – something needs to be done here – maybe pressure from Old Boys ??
@Playa: He was immediately expelled by Glenwood so that is the first of a few punishments as he lost everything in terms of support and exposure from there. But he should have been banned for life from playing the game at all….
I am in agreement with all of you that this oke deserves very harsh punishment for being a cheat. My question is, is there a framework that governs the punishment for age cheats? What about the steroid users? They are also cheats.
Granted, the two are different cases of cheating (both just as dangerous though).
I’ll be the first to say that he should be ashamed of himself for even considering ever running onto a rugby field…but what is the appropriate punishment for such? A life ban? Then let it be documented…and dare I say it, the same punishment must apply to doping cheats as well.
*PS: I am not making excuses for “old” Mr Tom here. I certainly agree that rugby would be better of without people like him
@Gungets Tuft: That’s just it. You can see a laatie even if he is 6 foot but those boys I’m referring to were too quick with muscle definition. Big laaties tend to be a little sluggish with puffy cheeks. Not these boys. There’s smoke there.
@CharlesZA: I think it is probably as hard as finding a friendly person in Home Affairs who has too much month left at the end of his money.
You would think it would get more difficult to do it, with the advent of child grants, as it is necessary to register a birth to get the grant, but not so. I guess they just register the birth, then when the scout comes a’calling they are instructed on how to re-register, claiming .. lets use a live example … that the child was raised by his grandparents who accidentally got the birthdate 3 years wrong … (seem like a really spooky Nostradamus type of anticipation, but there you go …), and now they need to fix it when he goes to high school ..
Piece of old takkie when 5 years of R100k a year scholarship is on the line …
@Westers: Yes, very well covered up and swept under the carpet like this case where Tom avoided repercussions. Nicely done Westville, Trevor must know every loophole in auditing considering he is a CA….
Not sure if it was a case of overage, but when I played WP cricket trials as a 12 year old there was a 13 year old “boy” that was as bit as my father. Bowled at a speed no one could play. This same “boy” went on to play WP u15 2 years running, WP and SA schools 2 years running. Played for SA u19 and then after that there is no single evidence of him ever playing a FC cricket match. Pretty sure this one case is not the first/wont be the last.
On another note, how hard is it to change a child’s birth date?
@Gungets Tuft: Not sure. But I think one of his passports might have gone down in the South China Sea.
@Westers: So has he settled on a single ID book then …
?
@Grasshopper: About time you gave up the comments about the kid at Westville who got away with it. He was listed as U19 and confirmed to be so. He is currently on bursary at the Sharks Academy.
Sickening, makes me cringe! I’m sure he was not the first case, I remember a kid called Lucky Hadebe in the mid 90’s smashed all of Glenwood’s long distance records, probably still unbroken….I mean like 1 min 47 for 800m, he must have been a man and not a boy. But it comes down to trusting their ID books back then. However, now they can do age tests on blood and bone marrow. If a kid looks suspicious they must test. This is not only a Glenwood problem and unfortunately connected to previously disadvantaged of still disadvantaged area’s where kids births are registered years late and they seeking anyway out of poverty. Glenwood saw it as helping a kid out but it backfired big time, same for Payi and the kid at Westville who got away with it. Funny how they seemed to have got through all the provincial and national structures and tests too…is the gov playing a silent roll here..
Unbelievable – I followed this story from a distance but cannot believe there is a five year difference!! So when he was playing under 15 rugby he was actually 20 – how did he get away with it for so long?
just out of curiosity…. have there been any over age players in other provinces?
@Tarpeys: Size is not the obvious issue. Tom was not bigger than most in his team, not Payi. It’s more about physical maturity, they are stronger, more muscular.
I was sent a picture of a kid turning out for an U14 cricket side recently, he looks like he is 18/19. He is a size kid as well, but you can see he is older from the definition to his frame.
I can send you (but won’t) pictures of a Grade 8 College boy last year, size 13 shoes, must stand 1.85m tall at least, but you can see he is a youngster. His face and body just look immature. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as a measuring tape and a scale – although that is exactly what they use in New Zealand (or Aus .. cannae remember) where they play “size division” rugby as lighties.
Edit – reading back – “power” is the word I am looking for. That’s the defining look, I think. You see it when the older kids run, there is balance and power you don’t see from the younger kids.
Consider the youngsters that were cheated of representation, – Glenwood 1st XV, KZN 2009, 2010, 2011, SA Schools 2011 & Sharks U19 2011 as well as the potential opportunities that may have resulted….. just swept under the carpet!
@beet: If I remember correctly, Mbembe Payi also went straight back onto the field, playing Sevens or something?
Makes me so angry. He has done so m6ch damage to the reputation of my alma mater
Born again!
what a change
@ Beet, I mentioned this last year that in the KZN 7s team of 2013 that I saw on television that there were a couple of players that looked overage. Also, many schools also disregard the Boksmart ruling blatantly and allow overage players to play with their grade group which is wrong as these players are usual much bigger than the other boys.
@beet: Seems the ethos of “winning” at all costs has contaminated the moral fibre of many, so this needs to be further regulated with those complicit heavily penalised. As Dixon’s mentions, ignorance seems to be a convenient escape for these schools.
@beet: I can only think of one….. that primary school conveniently expelled a 16 year old boy after rugby season was over and then claimed ignorance when he went to high school and was found to be over age
@Dixon’s: I think a couple of primary schools in Durban need to be taken to task on this issue.
@Ballie: I agree with you 100% on the “overage cheat” sentiment etc. I also have to say that I’ve talked to Siya Tom several times in the past and he seemed like such a nice guy. In those years before we all found out the truth I thought he was a super ambassador for Glenwood. I would still really love to find out from him what inspired him to virtually be finished high school and want to go back and start Gr.7 or 8 all over again. He surely had to have been facing a very bleak future on his original path in life. This is like one of those movie scripts where the villain could quite easily be portrayed as a victim of sorts. But nice guy or not, SARU really should be issuing him with the kind of ban that sends out a clear message about where they stand on this wrongdoing.
@beet: I dont think we have heard the end of overage players, not just at high school 1st team level, but all the way down to primary school. Especially in Durban. I shudder at the thought of a overage monster seriously injuring a primary school boy, and the sh**storm that will follow. And then what happens to the school and coach in terms of Boksmart?
@beet: Second that! Absolutely sickening, – the overage cheat and all those involved.
@Dixon’s. Agreed and sad that he can continue on without any form of punishment for the overage thing. Poor form by those running the show.
@beet: obviously not as good when playing with men his own age….. could only make the replacements bench!
@Dixon’s:
I switched on the tellie as soon as I read your comment. I think you are right. New first name, new haircut but otherwise that was good “old” Siya Tom still wearing a green jersey and white shorts 
is anyone watching the Despatch v Spring Rose club match on Supersport???? im convinced that the Spring Rose replacement Mpume Tom is actually Siyabonga Tom!