Rugby World Cup epiphany: To win some, lose first

On Saturday night, myself and my twin boys watched the battle of the giants Rugby World Cup match between South Africa and Ireland.

None of us have played the sport and all three of us were clueless about the rules of the game.

As a father, questions were directed to me about what a scrum is, and why this gets balanced with something referred to as a ruck.

We had to Google what we thought was a line-in and why the lads prop each other up to catch the ball when it is thrown back into play.

As a lifestyle, arts and culture enthusiast who has little to no interest in all sports, and whose kids watch no sports on TV, it was entertaining to learn something new.

As an avid rugby fan, you probably knew that a match lasts 80 minutes.

The twins and I were very shocked to find this out, as we thought the Bokke had 10 more minutes to make us proud, as in another sport we know nothing about: soccer.

Like my father and his father before him, every weekend my boys and I have to pretend like we know what the score was for some of the biggest rivalries, as we never watch sports.

Should some friends and family members know that we are not as loyal to some teams as they are, some tough conversations would have to be had.

As clueless as we were, what we did know at the end of the weekend is that our beloved Springboks lost and so did my chosen soccer team: Kaizer Chiefs.

These losses have to be some sort of comfort for sports crazy South Africans as life continues to teach us that, to win some, you sometimes have to first lose some.

As a country, it feels like we are competing in a sport that we know nothing about.

The rules about rolling blackouts, a weakening rand, worsening water shortages, increasing fuel prices are confusing us so much that we miss more penalties than Faf de Klerk and Manie Libbok.

Like the Bokke, we now have a choice to make: do we keep fielding the players who were not at their best, or do we try others.

As citizens, do we keep voting for those who have missed penalties for the last 29 years, or do we look at who is available on the bench?

We want to move from a whining nation to a be a winning country, but for this to happen, we have to make some serious decisions on the field and on the ballot paper.