No Irish luck for SA’s opponents

Perhaps it’s a case of the universe punishing Ryanair – in a roundabout way – for that insulting Afrikaans general knowledge quiz… or just that when it comes to sport, you should back SA over the Irish any day.

Three losses of Irish teams against our teams over the weekend.

The women Proteas smashed the Irish in the opening one-day international, while the Bulls dispatched Leinster from the United Rugby Championship (URC) and the Stormers did the same to Ulster.

It wasn’t only the Irish who felt the power of SA sport over the last few days: the Indian cricketers got two solid poundings by the Proteas in T20 matches.

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And it was South African golfers, led by winner Charl Schwartzel, who walked away the most stinking rich from the first outing of the LIV Golf series.

The victories were a bright light of optimism in a generally gloomy South Africa.

Our president is accused of trying to cover up a burglary at his game ranch – and its after-effects; our rand is plunging downwards again; fuel and food prices are soaring; unemployment is at record highs and it’s winter … the gloomiest period of the year.

To steal from Karl Marx: Perhaps sport could be the opiate we need to take our minds off reality.