It has been too long since I have written, and the only excuses I have are that I have been busy completely changing my life, and there's little matter of not being able to find my own blog... momentary forgetfulness.
I have gone from being employed, in a flat, with a cat, and happy in CT to soon to be unemployed (out of choice - but still an idiot), no cat (died), not so happy in durban.
I may have stopped but rugby has not skipped a beat...
What I can say is that I have loved and hated the rugby I have been watching, cursed, swore, and cheered all in the name of rugby.
There has certainly been a lot that has happened and trying to go through it all in the first blog back would be suicide, so I will start merely with the Lion's tour, and see how we go from there.
The Lions tour has so much history and legacy attached with it, and so many Greats have come out of these tours that I feel even though the media tried its best to hype the event up as much as possible, it still fell short of the previous tours in some respects.
First off, the fact that the Lions didnt play full strength side, the whole concept of the tour being about the celebration of rugby was seemily lost. I know we are in a professional era and that players are paid to play, and the corporations (unions) invest huge amounts of time and money in the assest we call players, so I can with some understanding see why the springboks (SA Rugby =another Corporation) were not allowed to play for their Unions. The risk of loosing an asset for the "big game" is not one worth taking.
Regardless I feel that in denying the springboks from playing for their unions demisnished the tours appeal. It could not be hidden that the "warm up" matches where very weaking supported. This may have a lot to do with the fact that fans knew that their favourite players would not be in the teams and that the matches would inevitably turn out to be a very one sided battle. The second factor contributing to the lack of support could be due to the ridiculous prices that where being charged for tickets. The average South African family cold simply not afford to go watch the games.
The lack of players and high prices aside, the midweek matches had some true gems, the opening match was the perfect start to the tour. In my mind I think that the invitational team made the Lions truly realise that they were here to play a great rugby nation, and if they didnt give it their all that they would be going home battered, broken and empty handed.
Other great midweek/warm up games include the Cheetahs and the emerging springboks. The later being probably more memorable then any of the other, simply becoz it was played in terribly conditions, by a team that was out to prove themselves and they used their ability rather then shere braun (unlike the spear the week before) to keep them in the game, and ultimately leave the field with their heads high and the scores leveled at 13 a piece.
As for the tests, so much soap opera drama around good ol' Uncle Dev, that I can barely recall anything great being said about the game of rugby itself. But im not going to get into Dev and his mechanics theories, rather im going to say well done to him and his team for the series win.
The Lions tour have a history of making greats, i think that this one didnt exactly make greats but certainly opened the world to prospective legends. I think that with the right coaching, and mentoring Ruan Pienaar will be a SA rugby legend. Along with Francios Steyn and even Morne'. I also think that the series was a preemptive fairwell to great legends on SA rugby. Dont get me wrong I hope they will stick around longer but i dont see that happening. Currently John Smit has extended his career by movin got tighthead, good move, as his captaincy has proven time and again to be an essential part of the Springbok success. I think we will be seeing a lot of legends looking to boost their retirement funds by moving overseas for the twilight ends of their careers.
The most important thing I wanted to say about the Lions tour, is that regardless of what let downs there were, what rubbish went around in the media, the one thing that surpassed all expectations for me was the Lions fans. What an incredible bunch of true fans, not just of the Lions team but of rugby and the spirit of rugby. I met them on nights out before the lions game in durban (they literally drank durban dry, bars were out of alcohol everywhere!!) and they were more fun, more open and a whole lot less brash then I expected. Dont get me wrong, they werent angelic, they are naughty as hell, but incredible good fun. so thanks to the supporters, and hopefully I will join then on a NZ or AUS tour someday.
frank
No comments:
Post a Comment