John Gainsford, who has died in Paarl at the age of 77, was one of the greatest Springbok centres of all time. He won his first test cap at the age of 21 against Argentina in Port Elizabeth in 1960, and played in 33 tests until he retired in 1967 as the most-capped Springbok back.He was the most-capped centre until 2001 when Japie Mulder broke his record. He played 71 games for the Springboks - more than he did for Western Province.At 1.83m and 100kg he was a physically imposing player with nimble feet, electric acceleration and terrific pace. At an athletics meeting in Bellville he ran 100 yards in 10.2 seconds, leaving specialist sprinters in his wake.He didn't believe in kicking the ball, which was just as well since he couldn't - not having, as they say, an educated boot.When he saw a young Jean de Villiers kicking the ball he told the future Springbok centre and captain: "If you want to be a Springbok don't kick the ball, handle it and run with it."That was before the era of Heyneke Meyer, who he thought was a disaster for Bok rugby.Gainsford believed rugby was about scoring tries and he scored eight in tests himself. The expected role of players alongside him was to catch the ball and pass it to him with enough room to do his thing."He was our dynamite," said his regular Springbok centre partner Dave Stewart.His trademark was a killer sidestep that enabled him to get through gaps that seemed impossibly small, given his size, and left even the most experienced and agile opposite numbers clutching at air or sitting on the ground looking bemused.Unlike most centres who would step inside and then keep stepping inside until they got tangled up with the forwards, Gainsford stepped both ways. This is what made him such a valuable asset to any team.story_article_left1British and Irish Lions player John Willcox, renowned for his lethal tackling, told rugby historian Paul Dobson many years afterwards how Gainsford beat him on the inside."I had never been beaten on the inside before, and I said to myself, 'He won't do that again.' The next time he got the ball he beat me on the outside."Famous sports commentator Charles Fortune witnessed the then 20-year-old Gainsford's sidestep in a provincial match against Eastern Province before he became a Springbok and said he'd never seen anything like it.Gainsford had an attitude to match. Once, when he was due to play for South Western Districts against Free State, they planned to move their big, threatening winger to centre to neutralise Gainsford.When he arrived in Bloemfontein he told a local journalist he'd heard Free State were going to get this formidable player to mark him. "Give him a message," said Gainsford. "Tell him I'm going to kill him."He was an upfront, rough and ready character from the wrong side of the tracks with, in his younger days at least, plenty of swagger. Sometimes this rubbed people up the wrong way.When as a 19-year-old he joined Villager rugby club, along with Maties (Stellenbosch University) the strongest in the Cape, he announced that he would be playing for the Springboks within a year.Stewart took him to one side and told him he'd go nowhere if he shot his mouth off like that. Gainsford took it well and they became lifelong friends.Bok supremo Danie Craven loved him. He said he was "a man who would give his life to play for the Springboks", which was true up to a point.Gainsford hated training and if he could avoid it, he would - "I've got this twinge in my ankle," he'd say to Bok coach Boy Louw as his teammates lined up for another session of sprints. This meant he was sometimes not as fit as he might have been.After the first frantic 10 minutes of a test against the Wallabies at Ellis Park, he appealed to a player to "tell Keith [flyhalf Keith Oxley] to kick the bloody ball out, I can't breathe".Gainsford was born in Germiston on August 4 1938. He went to Lansdowne High in Cape Town where he was headboy, captain of the first rugby team, excelled in cricket and athletics and achieved a first- class matric.University was out of the question because his parents had no money, so he joined an insurance company.In 1963 he, Stewart and their Western Province and Springbok mate Jan Pickard bought Logan's Sports (subsequently Sportsman's Warehouse) which they ran together in Cape Town before Gainsford joined Pickard at Douglas Green Bellingham as international director and travelled the world selling wine.He loved it, the clients loved him and he was good at it. Once the boycott of South African wines eased he sold container loads of the stuff in Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Mauritius.Gainsford was religious. In his youth he ran a Bible study class at Rondebosch Boys' High School and 10 years ago he and some friends built a church. He was unable to believe that death was the end of everything, he used to say.He was diagnosed with tuberculosis six months ago - and then the doctors discovered he had cancer.He is survived by his wife, Shona, and four children.1938-2015Matter of FactWe incorrectly stated that Gainsford won his first test cap against Argentina in Port Elizabeth in 1960. In fact, his debut was against Scotland. He played for the junior Boks against Argentina in 1959...