Bastard started playing rugby for Kokstad RFC and made it onto the representative team of
Natal. He was highly thought of in Natal, but when trials for the
1937 Springboks tour of Australia and New Zealand were announced at
Newlands Stadium, Bastard was not invited. The Natal RFU were convinced he should be there, so they sponsored him to attend the trial without an invitation. Following an impressive performance at the trials, Bastard was called up to the South Africa national rugby team for the tour of Australia and New Zealand, becoming the first and only Kokstad player to play for the Springboks. He also scored a try against
New Zealand in the second test match at
Lancaster Park in
Christchurch. During the tour, his surname became a point of contention. At the first banquet of the tour in Australia, he was introduced as "Ebbo Jardine" after the English cricketer
Douglas Jardine, who captained
England during the infamous "
bodyline" series against
Australia. Following a match in Brisbane, he was spoken to by a
Queensland Police Force constable who followed him, and caught Bastard and three other Springboks climbing a neon sign, which was smashed as a result. Later in Sydney with
Daantjie van de Vyver, a similar incident occurred when they were climbing lampposts. The
New South Wales Police Force constable asked for their names; Bastard gave his and spelled it out for the policeman, with van de Vyver saying his surname straight afterward. The policeman replied, "No bastard is going to get a
fiver out of me".
Test history == Death and legacy ==