South Africa, famous for affirmative action, crooked politicians, the 2010 Soccer World Cup and last, but definitely not least, its one-eyed rugby public. Yes, I include everyone in the latter, from little Elton in Cape Town to old Jan in Pretoria, as well as myself, and each and every one of our esteemed bloggers…especially the Bulls…sorry, I had to get a shot in…hehehe.

In 2005/2006 Jake White was criticized for resting the Springboks, as well at the same time criticized for not resting them enough, now Peter de Villiers is in the same boat. Geez people, what the hell do we want?
Cotton wool, or barbed wire, no matter what you wrap them in, in the end the answer stays the same, if the Springboks want to win bad enough, they will.

The Lions are a prime example of this, yes Dick Muir was useless, and yes John Mitchell was probably the first smart thing that the Lions Management has done in decades, but in the end a game is decided between 4 white lines by 30 rugby players, no matter who your coach is, all a coach really needs to do, is instill belief!

When the Lions trashed WP 2 weeks back, I was sitting in a suite right above the East Stand, and I could feel the energy of the supporters, and their absolute belief in their team. If the Lions lost that game, something very bad would have happened cosmically, there would have been a disturbance in the force or something of that sort, and I knew at that time, 10 minutes before kick-off, that WP was in for a hard day’s night…which proved to be the understatement of the year.

Yet, in Bloemfontein, Bryan Habana, hero of countless Springbok victories, was booed every time he touched a ball. Not unlike the way that Percy Montgomery was booed at Loftus all that time ago, while today he is a national hero. Now ask me again why we were outplayed in Bloem in that first 40 minutes?

We like to point fingers, saying P Divvy is an idiot and a moron, and that his Springbok results rests on Jake White’s foundations, but most of us, including myself, was clamouring for Heynecke Meyer to replace White merely a few months before the World Cup. White was criticized for every decision, and suddenly when we won the World Cup, he was a rugby-genius.

Fact is, SA Rugby Supporters suck, we are the worst bunch of “Draadsitters” in the world, and on average, we whine even more that the Australians (even if we don’t want to admit it), we are in one word pathetic!
Being the Springbok coach, is most probably the most stressful job on the planet. Where we as normal workers usually get a performance appraisal on our work once a year, which is done by a manager or some other high level person. A Springbok Coach, is judged on every game, not by a panel of senior managers, or even his peers, but by every Tom, Dick and Harry walking the streets, from Danville to the Cape Flats.

We have none of the pressure, none of the work and none of the responsibility, yet we are qualified enough to boo a player, that has done more for the sport in the few years that he has been playing rugby, than any of us have done, or probably will do in our life-times.

Instead of pissing and moaning about how bad the Boks are, let’s just get behind them, unconditionally, and give them all the support that we can muster. Geez the Italians do it for their National team, and shit knows what they hope to accomplish.

What is worse, is that Mr. White himself is now proclaiming himself available for re-taking the reigns of the team, a few months before the World Cup.  What audacity!  Should the Boks lose he will blame P Divvy, should the Boks win he will praise himself.  What an utter arse!  “Winning Ways” never got the Lions winning, John Mitchell and the players did, why is anyone even listening to this clown?

The Lions have turned a page, and even though a team can only run on pure motivation for so long, it is nice to know that all is not lost for them, which in the same breath can be said for the Springboks.

I don’t care what Professor Noakes says, even less than what I care about old JJ Harmse, neither ever donned the Green & Gold to start with, I doubt they realize the pride, so at best all they have are theories, if the Bokke wants the World Cup, it is theirs for the taking, irrespective of their fatigue levels and their emotional issues. We are the Springboks, and I like to believe, that every player pulling that jersey over their head, at any time, has given their absolute best, even if they weren’t the best there was, they gave reckoning of themselves.

So, to all the nay-sayers, go get screwed, come World Cup 2011, my blood will be green!