He was born an athlete. When sophomore Malan Graham was born, his dad immediately placed a ball in his hand for a picture.

He and his brother, freshman Vincent Graham, have participated in several sports throughout their lives, including rugby, cricket, track and water polo.

Malan’s older brother, Beorn, has been attending Lindenwood University for the past few years and helped convince them to move.

So the rest of the family moved to the United States from Pretoria, South Africa in January 2023.

“The way he described America and Missouri, it sounded so much better than South Africa,” Malan said. “My dad got another opportunity for his job to transfer to America, so he checked things out for about a month or two, and then he came back and we decided to move here.”

Moving hasn’t been easy for the brothers. With sports playing such a major role in their lives before, they noticed there is less emphasis on athletics for schools in the United States.

“In South Africa, it’s normal for students to be doing multiple sports at one time. Here it’s not as common,” Malan said.

In addition to playing rugby, Malan is on the Lancer track team and Vincent is playing water polo. Playing two sports simultaneously is a challenge.

“My brother Vincent and I are playing for Eureka Rugby Club right now, and I also practice a few times at Lindenwood with my older brother Beorn,” Malan said.
Beorn has been a major influence on his brothers.

“He has a really great positive mindset, and he is a really hard-working figure and his attitude is contagious. The positive things that he does just flow over to other people. So I would definitely say he’s a role model and all of the good habits that I have are because of him,” Malan said.

His new coaches believe Malan has been adjusting well.

“Malan has definitely taken these changes in stride. They were really shocked about the cold and rainy conditions that we practice and play in. We still like to tease them about that,” Josh Sander, Eureka Rugby Club Coach, said.

Malan went to Afrikaans High School for Boys (Affies), which is known for its competitive sports like rugby. In Africa, he’d train about 30 hours a week. His dedication to the sport helped him become a great player in his country.

“I was invited to be part of a high-ranked club called the Blue Bills in South Africa. I am definitely going to play professional rugby after high school,” he said.
Malan also likes the idea of attending college in Europe.

Although rugby is often compared to football in the U.S., Malan said they are vastly different.

“The goal of the game is a lot like football, you try to get the ball into the end zone, but when you are in the end zone, you have to touch the ball to the ground to score. We call that a try. A try is five points and then you have to kick a conversion and a conversion is two points. A game lasts around an hour,” he said.

Malan said he has grown to be more patient as a player here.
“One of the challenges with this being a club sport is most of the players we get each year are brand new to the sport, with no built-in knowledge of the game. We have to move slowly to build knowledge and skills in our players. This had to be quite an adjustment for Malan,” Sander said.

Malan helps his team practice and learn some of the rules of rugby.

“It’s definitely an opportunity for me to help others. Like right now the club I am playing at, I also help them a lot with passing, kicking drills, whatever,” Malan said.
The coaches appreciate his help and expertise.

“Given his experience playing the sport growing up, we’ve counted on him to be an example and demonstrate proper techniques and form,” Sander said.