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Heyneke Meyer has decided to change things up for the pre match talk, he suggested the SARU must invite a South African supporter to gee up the Springboks before running out to face the Haka.
Date: Friday 13th September 2013
Venue: 30 000 feet above sea level, Boeing A380, seat C4.
Time: Have no clue, which time zone do you pick midway between South Africa and New Zealand?
I am the lucky one.
Whilst I am trying to get my ex-prop frame comfortable in these tiny seats in the coach section, (cheap buggers SARU), I start working on my speech.
What do you say to 22 men who are going to run out and face the Ka Mate or perhaps the Kapo o Pango at a packed Eden Park?
Immediately I think about my son and I, who since he was the age of three, would stand on opposite ends of the corridor in the morning and we (bare chested) would get ready to perform the Ka Mate.
There are few moments in life that I treasure as special moments, the birth of my son, when I listened to Pieter Hendricks telling a group of us about the wet dot on his shorts when they sang the national anthem in the opening game of Rugby World Cup 1995.
The moment when Joost jumped in the air as we won the 1995 Rugby World Cup in extra time.
There are a few other, but most revolve around experiences and memories that links me back to rugby.
I decide the reason for me being there is not to remind them that they have the skills, talent and preparation to win, that is something their coaching staff has already done.
Besides, I am an armchair critic, my opinions aren’t for Bok coaches to hear, it has a place on cyberspace where a bunch of rugby junkies gather to act like coaches and pundits.
I decide I must remind them why they are here, why we support them and what rugby means to the people back home.
I think back to my first high school game of rugby, we were playing Randfontein Hoerskool.
I am the only grade eight in the under-14 B-team, the rest are all the technical boys from grade nine.
My captain walks over to me and informs me that these boys like to fight, so whenever I get tanked, I must make sure I know who it was so we can retaliate.
Needless to say the game is stopped prematurely as it became a free-for-all. I walked off the field proudly donning the blood on my face and jersey.
Good, I’ll tell them about team spirit, standing together and standing up for each other.
But most important that rugby is not a game, Pictionary is a game, rugby is war, it is a battle of the mind and the will, it is a battle of superiority.
You either walk away knowing you have carried yourself proudly and did everything in your power for your team, or you walk away ashamed because you didn’t have the guts to do your job.
I start thinking about the emotions so evident on the faces of the spectators during a match, I think about how heartbroken people get.
How the tears of disappointment and the tears of happiness flows freely down their cheeks, the despair when we lose and the elation when we win.
I think back to Ellis Park 1996, we have just been tanked 3-0 by New Zealand in the previous three test (winning their first ever test series in South Africa and the beginning of our downfall) but on this day we came out on top by 32-22.
When the final whistle blew I picked up the two spectators on either side of me and started dancing with them down the aisle.
Yeah, I’ll tell them a Springbok victory over New Zealand makes us feel like Superman. I’ll tell them about the passion, the emotion and the adrenaline.
I think about respect, a simple word, it is something to be savoured when you receive it from your peers.
Maslow tells you that you must have self-respect before you can respect others.
They must have respect for the jersey they are wearing, it is an honour of the highest order to walk out of the tunnel onto the hallowed ground of Eden Park in the green and gold.
You don’t have a right to wear it, it is but a privilege.
In the history of Springbok rugby there have only ever been 852 Springboks, they have played 422 Test matches, which equates to two new capped Springboks per match.
If they compare that to half a million guys back home playing rugby, the importance of them honouring the jersey is not negotiable.
Lastly I will tell them about responsibility.
For the past 20 years New Zealand has dominated world rugby in an emphatic manner.
It has been one of, if not the most successful international sporting teams in history, and it is our responsibility to give hope to other nations that these Men in Black are indeed not invincible.
The reason why it is their responsibility is simple, we have been the All Blacks’ greatest rival, we not only boast the best record against the All Blacks, but once held a superior record to the All Blacks.
But for the past 20 years we had to endure the fall of the proudest record of Springbok rugby, only to see the advantage they have over us becoming bigger and bigger.
Enough is enough.
There is no time like the present to take back what is ours, they have taken our honor, they have taken our self-respect, and it is time to take back what is ours.
No matter the odds, no matter the size of the mountain ahead.
Now go out there and leave nothing to chance!
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.