The stepping down of East Rand United’s main sponsor Phakisa Holdings Group inevitably sparked a mass exodus of the Reiger Park club’s star players – spelling an end to one helluva era in the club’s history.
It’s a turn of events which has reminded this writer a bit of the end of one of Springbok rugby’s golden generations: the 2007 World Cup-winning group; and a bit of one of the better generations of Lions rugby: the Johan Ackermann era.
How does it relate to the 2007 world champions? That Bokke squad, the brain child of rugby genius Jake White, had all the players and had a star accommodating almost every position across the rugby field.
That team was so rich in talent, it was destined for greatness and that greatness indeed came to fruition in Paris on October 20, 2007, in front of fromer president Thabo Mbeki.
The same can be said of East Rand United’s squads between 2017 and 2019: they boasted star players in almost every position.
Where that Bokke generation and East Rand United take separate ways is that John Smith’s team took full advantage of their riches in talent by going ahead to win every single trophy there is to win in Test rugby. United in turn failed.
And that’s where similarities between them and Johan Ackermann’s Lions are drawn.
Both teams had everything going for them and would play eye-catching rugby and thus entertain while winning throughout the course of a season until where it counts most: the final.
The Lions, of course, reached the Super Rugby final not once, not twice but three times in a row but failed to win at least one. The 2017 final was played at Ellis Park, the home of the Lions and yet they still found a way to lose – something they had absolutely no right to do.
East Rand United 2017-2019 will be remembered by playing the most entertaining brand of rugby in the Valke Peregrine League and continuously defeating the odds up to a point where they earned respect from the many doubters the club has had.
They will also, unfortunately, be remembered for failing to get the job done when it mattered most: they too had no right to lose both the 2017 and 2018 Valke Peregrine League finals – considering that in both instances they were the better team for most parts of the game – especially in the 2017 final in their loss to Vereeniging.
As a supporter of Boksburg rugby, this writer is not sad that United has lost its stars and that that era has ended, but instead, this writer is sad that United failed to take advantage of their time when all was set for them to earn proof that they were indeed the best Peregrine League team between 2017 and 2019.
That being said, thank you for all the wonderful memories, gentlemen.
