It appears that, along with the tube of Deep Heat, spare jockstraps, bandages, plasters and painkillers, a number of leading sportsmen have a beauty queen neatly tucked into their kitbags now-a-days as part of their gear. Joost van der Westhuizen and Jacques Kallis are two names that immediately come to mind, but there are a host of others. The phenomenon is not new, however.Lorraine Downes (New Zealand) and Leanne Hosking (South Africa) competed at Miss Universe in 1983, with Lorraine going on to win the title. Something else they have in common is that each landed themselves a sportsman husband. Lorraine married Murray Mexted, a New Zealand rugby All Black, and Leanne married Mike Haysman, an Australian cricketer.
This phenomenon begs the question whether the beauty attracts the beast, or the beast attracts the beauty. You decide.
