Henry William Honiball (born 1 December 1965) is a South African former professional rugby union footballer. He usually played at fly-half and sometimes as a centre.

Honiball played for early in his career, but is best known for his time with Natal and the Sharks. Towards the end of his career he had a spell with English club Bristol. He won 35 caps for South Africa from 1993 to 1999, during the early post-apartheid era.

Biography Honiball had a very expansive running game which brought the loose-forwards into the game quickly. He was also tall for a fly-half and extremely physical, being a strong tackler and not afraid to take the ball and challenge the opposition.BBC News | South Africa | Key player: Henry Honiball He earned his nickname of 'Lem', Afrikaans for 'blade', for his ability to 'cut' through his opponent's defence.Sharks Rugby Paired in the halves with Joost van der Westhuizen, Honiball was an integral part of Nick Mallett's Springbok squad which equalled the record of 17 consecutive Test victories, a record shared with New Zealand. Honiball played in 14 of the 17 victories, which included the clean sweep of the 1998 Tri Nations Series, the Springboks' first-ever series victory.

He made his debut in 1993 against Australia in Sydney, coming on as a replacement. Although South Africa lost the match 19–12, Honiball was also a member of the South Africa team that mauled Australia 61–22 during the 1997 Tri Nations tournament.Henry Honiball - South Africa Rugby Player - Rugby-Heroes.net However, in the aftermath of the record-equalling streak, Honiball was understood to have been affected by the surprise axing of captain and close friend Gary Teichmann. After the Springboks struggled to find their rhythm in the following year's Tri Nations tournament, Mallett had considered recalling Honiball for the match against New Zealand in Pretoria. He had only just returned from serious injury and was playing well for club side Natal, but revealed that he had suffered an ankle injury, so Mallett sent him to see a specialist in Johannesburg. Honiball retired from international rugby after the Springboks beat New Zealand in the 1999 Rugby World Cup third/fourth place play-off.

After the World Cup, he played one season for Bristol, amassing 283 points before a serious neck injury forced him to retire.BBC SPORT | RUGBY UNION | Honiball retires from game

Test history

No. Opposition Result (SA 1st) Position Points Date Venue 1. 12–19 Replacement 21 August 1993 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney 2. 52–23 Fly-half 13 November 1993 Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires 3. 60–8 Replacement 13 April 1995 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 4. 43–18 Fly-half 10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties) 2 July 1996 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 5. 16–21 Fly-half 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) 13 July 1996 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney 6. 32–22 Fly-half 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) 31 August 1996 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 7. 46–15 Fly-half 9 (3 conversions, 1 penalty) 9 November 1996 Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires 8. 44–21 Fly-half 14 (4 conversions, 2 penalties) 16 November 1996 Ferrocarril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires 9. 22–12 Fly-half 12 (4 penalties) 30 November 1996 Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux 10. 13–12 Fly-half 8 (1 conversion, 2 penalties) 7 December 1996 Parc des Princes, Paris 11. 37–20 Fly-half 10 (2 conversions, 2 penalties) 15 December 1996 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff 12. 74–10 Fly-half 10 June 1997 Newlands, Cape Town 13. 16–25 Fly-half 3 (1 penalty) 21 June 1997 Newlands, Cape Town 14. 15–18 Fly-half 28 June 1997 Kings Park Stadium, Durban 15. 35–16 Replacement 2 (1 conversion) 5 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 16. 32–35 Replacement 19 July 1997 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 17. 20–32 Replacement 2 August 1997 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane 18. 35–55 Centre 4 (2 conversions) 9 August 1997 Eden Park, Auckland 19. 61–22 Centre 23 August 1997 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 20. 62–31 Fly-half 17 (7 conversions, 1 penalty) 8 November 1997 Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna 21. 36–32 Fly-half 11 (4 conversions, 1 penalty) 15 November 1997 Stade de Gerland, Lyon 22. 52–10 Fly-half 22 (1 try, 7 conversions, 1 penalty) 22 November 1997 Parc des Princes, Paris 23. 29–11 Fly-half 7 (2 conversions, 1 penalty) 29 November 1997 Twickenham, London 24. 96–13 Replacement 27 June 1998 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 25. 18–0 Fly-half 4 July 1998 Newlands, Cape Town 26. 14–13 Fly-half 18 July 1998 Subiaco Oval, Perth 27. 13–3 Fly-half 25 July 1998 Athletic Park, Wellington 28. 24–23 Fly-half 15 August 1998 Kings Park, Durban 29. 29–15 Fly-half 29 August 1998 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 30. 28–20 Fly-half 14 November 1998 Wembley, London 31. 35–10 Fly-half 21 November 1998 Murrayfield, Edinburgh 32. 27–13 Fly-half 28 November 1998 Aviva Stadium (Lansdowne Road), Dublin 33. 7–13 Fly-half 5 December 1998 Twickenham, London 34. 21–27 Replacement 30 October 1999 Twickenham, London 35. 22–18 Fly-half 11 (1 conversion, 3 penalties) 4 November 1999 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

See also List of South Africa national rugby union players – Springbok no. 590

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