- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
As I am typing this I almost feel like I have to introduce myself formally among some very distinguished company of contributors on The Roar. So here goes.
Hi, my name is Laeveld Leeu and I am a very long suffering Lions supporter and a not so much suffering Bok supporter.
After reading some of the posts and articles, especially those from my fellow countrymen, I felt a giant urge (like an itch) to also write something.
But, rather something based more on a different perspective. To show that not every one of us ‘Saffas’ are prone to ‘drop the coach, the team, the older dudes, the younger dudes’ outbursts.
Some of us can actually remember harsher times than the current 34 Tests played, eight lost. In fact if you would humour me just for a few more paragraphs I will enlighten you with some of that perspective right now.
The year is 2006. The Boks lost their first home game in two seasons under then coach Jake White to the men from France. This after being pushed all the way the previous weekends by the same team and before then the Scots.
But the worst was to come in the Tri-Nations. Right out of the gates, a 49-0 in the first game against the boys from Down Under. In fact in the 2006 tri-series the Boks would only win two out of six – one each against the All Blacks and the Wallabies.
More pain followed in the end-of-year tour. A loss against those same Irish, wearing old school jersey’s to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the first meeting counting for nothing.
That was followed by the loss to the English after being in front in the final minutes. And lastly in the follow-up game the next weekend with a win against the same English, which coincidently started our winning streak of 11 or so games against them.
All of this happened alongside much off-field drama between White and SARU. Not happy times for us Bok supporters. Skip ahead to 2007, where we beat a sickly England twice, won one game in the tri-series and went into the World Cup, scoring more than 30 points in all matches bar the final, where we won the coveted trophy and conveniently forgot about our previous strife.
Some more perspective perhaps? Ok, but just because you asked for it.
The year is 2010. We had two teams in the then Super 14 final, the Bulls and the Stormers. The previous year (2009) was one of the best in South African rugby history in terms of competitions. British and Irish Lions series winners. Tri-Nation’s winners, blanking the All Blacks 3-0 in the process.
We were on a high. And then it ended. Not suddenly, but still painfully. We beat Wales away. We beat a very uninterested French. And then we felt the wrath of Genghis Khan (read All Blacks). The Boks could basically almost not buy a win in the tri-series with only one win to show at the end.
The end-of-year tour that season did not bring much relief either. Yes, we beat those Irish, finally. But then went on to lose against Scotland, just to beat the English the following week. If you had asked any of the loyal supporters, they would have rather lose to the Irish and beat the Scots and English.
So my point after this very long trip down nightmare lane? Well, there are a few.
One, a loss against one team after playing badly does not define a season, nor World Cup aspirations. It also doesn’t predict the end of the universe in a way the Mayan’s could not.
Two, calling for players to be left out of the team (influential and experienced players who have proven themselves many times in the past and current seasons) is both premature and a bit insulting in some instances.
Three, accusing the coaching staff of bias because of their origins in respect to their previous home unions is doubly insulting, naive, and not based on any logic or fact, especially when the facts and reasons prove so vastly different.
This is just my opinion of course. But I do believe in perspective. Sometimes we can all use a good dose of it.
PS: just a quick rugby geek-out to Harry Jones, whose prose puts us all to shame, oom Spiro, who sometimes writes nice things about my Lions (oom means ‘uncle’ or ‘elder’ in Afrikaans and is a term of endearment or respect), same for Diggercane and Brett McKay.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.