Love the Game
Outbound tours have all started for the Southern Hemisphere countries migrating to the cold English and European weather.
ALBERTON – South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina are touring the UK, Ireland, and top European nations like France and Italy. Normally these tours are used by the northern hemisphere to prepare the teams for the 6 Nations tournament which starts in December.
Wales, currently six Nations Champions of 2012/2013, hosted the Boks last weekend in Cardiff. The Welsh have the ability to trip major teams which play in their backyard, especially with a packed stadium seating 80 000 supporters cheering them on. The one aspect that stayed with me for years, was my first test I refereed in Cardiff, where the Welsh males start singing like one voice at a wink of the eye. And can they sing! Man o man, you get goose bumps even on the field if you hear them singing.
However, the Boks on the other side, showed great composure to retain their early lead with the Welsh players attacking our defence trying to break through. I must be honest, and admit this is not good for the heart, I hope the Boks will realise that we as supporters want them to play for the full 80 minutes.
Leading the Bokke, Jean de Villiers was a great example of what is expected from a captain. Brian Habana and Fourie du Preez displayed some brilliance again. What classy players they are? I think when the opposition see the weekly team announcements and see these two names there, their hopes vanish like mist before the African sun.
The All Blacks showed up in France with great hope to destroy the French, but Les Bleus (The Blues) had different plans for the evening. The French, especially their young guns, showed this team can be a real factor in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. They were hungry and played with tremendous passion, like the French normally do. One thing that impressed me was their ability to delay the opposition’s ball creating time and space for the defence line up to form.
This weekend our Boks are taking on the Scots in Edinburgh, one of the most wonderful places to play rugby. The Scots line up with their bagpipes are special, especially if they start to sing the “Flower of Scotland”. Go Bokke Go, we hope the whisky will taste wonderful after the game.
