South African legend to present Saints shirts

The St Helens players will receive their Grand Final jerseys from a very special person this week, with the legendary South African Tom van Vollenhoven flying to the UK.

The ‘Flying Springbok’ is a true Saints legend, and one of rugby league’s greatest ever players.

The winger joined St Helens in 1957, after playing rugby union for North Transvaal and the South African national team, scoring four tries in seven games for the Springboks.

He scored 392 tries in 408 Saints appearances over 11 seasons.

“Tom has flown in with his wife Leonie as our special guests for the game. He will present each of our players individually with their match shirts,” said Saints chairman Eamonn McManus.

“He is one of the all-time rugby greats and Saints’ greatest ever winger. He knows what it is like to play in and to win big finals against Wigan and what it means to this Club and to its fans.

“He is an absolute gentleman as well as the leading figure in our great history. It is magnificent that he’s with us again as we write our latest page.”

Van Vollenhoven will present the players’ shirts at a private event on Friday.