Geo Cronjé joins Quins
By Prof
October 18 2004
Harlequins have secured the services of 24 year old South Arican second row Geo Cronjé on an eighteen month contract. He should make a formidable partnership with other recent signing Simon Maling and our other locks, Miall, Winters, Palepoi, Rudzki and Evans.
| Name: | Geo Cronjé |  |
| Born: | 23 Jul 1980 | |
| Place of Birth: | Klerksdorp, South Africa | |
| Position: | Second Row | |
| Height: | 6'6" (1.97m) | |
| Weight: | 18st12lb (120kg) | |
| Signed for: | 2004/5, 2005/6 (option) | |
| Previous Clubs: | Blue Bulls | |
| Honours: | South Africa (3 caps), 'A', U21 | |
| International Debut: | 9 Aug 2003 v New Zealand at Carisbrook | |
| Latest Test: | 26 Jun 2004 v Wales at Loftus Versfeld | |
| School: | Lichtenburg |
At 24 Geo Cronjé is still very young for an international second row but he already has a lot of experience. He has three caps for South Africa, has played 32 times in the Currie Cup (making his debut in 1999) and has played fifteen times in the Super 12 (debut in 2003).
He is a typical South African front five forward - he's big (nearly 19st and 6'6"), strong and aggressive. He's also skillful, last season he shared the award for the Blue Bulls' Forward Player of the Year with his brother Jacques.
Sadly for Geo his name is probably better known for the racism row that tainted the South African build up for the 2003 World Cup than for his play. The allegations centred around him not wanting to share a room at the Tukkies High Performance Centre with second row rival Quinton Davids. It lead to Cronjé being dropped just days before the announcement of the World Cup squad. But just two days later the ANC politicians apologised for the statements they made about the incident when the two inquiries held found that the allegations were unfounded.
He would have probably won more caps had this row not got out of hand and if the selectors had wanted to select a specialist lock rather than a player who could cover the back row too. And at the Blue Bulls he has had to proove himself better than Bakkies Botha (one of the five finalists for the SA Player of the Year) and Victor Matfirld (27 caps for the Springboks) - quite a hard task to say the least.
He is described by various sources as 'imposing', 'a hard man', 'uncompromising', 'a bearded giant', 'powerhouse', etc. He will hopefully take over the role that Garrick Morgan played before he left to join Pau a few seasons ago.
I'd like to welcome Geo to Quins and hope he has a long and successful career with us.