I live in Johannesburg on the South African Highveld. There’s an old Afrikaans saying that if it rains on the Highveld before Paul Kruger’s birthday (October 10, which used to be a public holiday) then it’ll be a dry summer.
Well, we had a bit of rain in September and the old saying seems to be true because I cannot think of an October in living memory where we needed rain as badly as we need it right now.
Johannesburg is hot, dry and dusty. Jumping in the pool helps for a few minutes and then we’re baking again. Tempers are fraying, farmers are praying and everyone is on edge, wondering when the rains are going to come.
So what, you may ask yourself, has any of this do with rugby and why am I babbling on about rain?
Well, the truth is, as dry and as parched as the Highveld is and as much as we need the rains to come, when I do a rain dance in my back garden it’s not for the Highveld, it’s for rain to fall at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon!
It may sound bizarre that I’m praying for rain on damp and overcast old Mud Island but there’s method in my madness.
I think it’s fair to say that before the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals last weekend, most of us thought that the Wallabies versus Scotland was the one predictable result and the other games were all in the balance.
Australlia had looked the most impressive team of the tournament up to that point while Scotland had been hammered by the Springboks and nearly turned over by Samoa. There was no reason to think Scotland might give the Wallabies the fright of their lives.
But as it turned out, it was not the proverbial penalty kick many had assumed. Scotland competed in every facet of play, they hung in and even took the lead right at the end and only lost the game to a controversial refereeing decision right at the death.
So what was the difference? How could a team that had looked second tier almost turn over the new tournament favourites? Before you say “Craig Joubert” let me suggest one other alternative… rain. It rained at the Millennium Stadium and as we all know, in rugby, rain is the great leveller.
After Saturday’s quarter-finals where the Springboks scraped a dour and hard-fought win over Wales, while the All Blacks showed the world how rugby might be played in heaven as they demolished the French in an entertaining display of running rugby, I was scratching my head.
How on earth could the the Springboks possibly beat their old enemy in the semi-final? But then the answer came to me after the Australia versus Scotland game… rain. Rain is how we’re going to beat the All Blacks. We need rain. Lots of it. Buckets of it.
Rain will nullify the fleet-footed Nehe Milner-Skudder, it’ll bog down the unstoppable Julian Savea, it’ll limit the options of the mercurial Dan Carter and it’ll keep the rangy Kieran Read closer to his forward pack.
Rain will turn the game into a forward-dominated 10-man kicking affair, exactly the kind of rugby that the Springboks thrive on and the All Blacks spurn.
We’ll survive a few more weeks of the heatwave in South Africa, especially if we have a shiny William Webb Ellis trophy to take our minds off the heat and the dust. Send us lots of drenching rain, but send it to Twickers!
Rooinek
Roar Rookie
Thanks for the reply Lee . . . I mean Homer!
Lee
Guest
Hi Rooinek, No - it's a different Lee - I'm new here. And as Bazza sees, I'm changing my name to Homer now that I figured out how to work the profile page options. Cheers
WQ
Guest
It appears you will have your wish as far as the rain request Rooinek, now to see if it produces the result your after?
Likkewaan
Roar Rookie
apparently the forecast is 70% showers from the morning, bucketing down round about kick off
Rooinek
Roar Rookie
Thanks for reminding me. The Springboks actually have a very wet (and rather lucky) RWC semifinal victory to their credit. Remember the state of the Durban pitch in the 1995 semifinal against France? More of the same please! Oh and talking of 1995, in the admittedly unlikely event that the All Blacks lose on Saturday, I hope the Kiwis will have a better excuse than the pathetic "Suzy poisoned us" nonsense they tried 20 years ago.
Rooinek
Roar Rookie
And it's raining in Johannesburg! At last!
Worlds Biggest
Guest
I like your backline a lot, not sure why you think rain will be the leveller, the AB's play many a home game in the wet. Anyway they play pretty well in the wet anyway. The forecast is a few showers on Saturday. Should be a cracking game.
Hund
Guest
Aus v Scot was played at Twickenham (not Millennium) and it only started raining with about 10mins to go. I was at the game. Before that, conditions and playing surface were perfect for rugby. In other words, RAIN WAS NOT WHY SCOTLAND ALMOST BEAT AUS!
Rooinek
Roar Rookie
I'll take a win on Saturday any way it comes and I believe our chances will improve dramatically if it rains. Yes, I hear all the Kiwis saying how wonderful their team is in wet conditions but at the very least, rain will force a change of the particularly successful game plan they used in the quarterfinal against the French. Looking good for rain according to this: http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/WorldCup/Boks-All-Blacks-to-battle-in-the-rain-20151021 Go Bokke!
NickSA
Guest
If the springboks can only win because it rains I would prefer for the all blacks to through. The springboks can win the game and they can win it by being the better team. Please don't have the attitude for us to win by luck, it really is a loser attitude and is totally against what the Springboks stand for. The springboks will have great line speed, pin-point kicking, colossal tackles, powerful scrums, accurate line-out, charging runs, vicious breakdown play and explosive breaks. These are the reasons the springboks should win. Not because it rained...
wardad
Guest
Gin and Tonic -Lee Rooie ?
wardad
Guest
Whats in the other pocket to wash it down with Harry ?
DC-NZ
Guest
Meyer should have benched Burger for impact and Lambie should be the starting full back ...
I try :D
Rooinek
Roar Rookie
I'm aware that New Zealand is a very soggy, wet and muddy island but I wrote this post after the quarterfinal matches. Even if the Kiwis are used to playing in the rain, I'll take an ugly game in the mud where the scoring is done in increments of 3, rather than an expansive running game in perfect conditions where the All Black outside backs run in a hat trick of tries each. I'm actually paying the Kiwis a compliment here. Out of interest, is this the same Lee I knew on a few other message boards many years ago? Does your surname start with a G and end with a T?
Bazza
Guest
Changing your name from Lee to Homer...
splinter
Guest
Rain and Brooklax cause an upset (1995)
nickoldschool
Guest
Perso Homer I think we will see the Boks we saw for 70min in the RC vs wallabies and AB: strong up front but with ambitious backs too. Am not sure it's really tactics Meyer will want to change but I reckon he will want to die 'les Armes a la main' meaning trying. It may be his last game with the Boks (am not counting the 3rd spot match should they lose) and half the team will also play their last game in a rwc and I think they will come to play, no regrets sort of attitude. Burger and his 3 lungs will be everywhere, and I think Meyer knows Kriel has the footwork to do something in AB midfield (like fofana tried to do, except he has de Allende next to him). Habana to have a key role too. In the qf, I think the Vermeulen - FdP 89 was possible thanks to The threat habana represents. Welsh defenders looked at him, forgetting FdP Imo. The question is will it be enough against the AB? And yes AB bench is scary.
Dev
Guest
I do not think the rain will favour either team. The AB's I think are more used to the rain, and SA play a tighter game of rugby.(Expansive rugby is harder to get rite in rain.) I hope that the best of the AB's play the best of SA. Their last three or four games played have been the best games of rugby I've seen. (within the last 4 years) They've been exceptionally close with some amazing skill in attack and defence. I am a SA supporter, and would prefer to beat the best AB team on the day, having nothing play a determining factor other than skill. Not weather, cards, bad press affecting team morale or bad referee decisions. I hate games being influenced by outside factors. I think that we are just super lucky to see what could potentially be the best game of the tournament. This obviously being a massive mountain for the BOKs to climb, as I cannot argue against how good this AB side is. If we lose we lose, and if we win, we got through the best....... I wish we had played them in 2007. Not saying we would have won but it would have been far sweeter, than winning it with a victory over Argentina and then England. I think that rain will ruin the game, and therefor end an opportunity to watch some scintillating rugby... And thats why I watch rugby.
Dev
Guest
I do not think the rain will favour either team. The AB's I think are more used to the rain, and SA play a tighter game of rugby.(Expansive rugby is harder to get rite in rain.) I hope that the best of the AB's play the best of SA. Their last three or four games played have been the best games of rugby I've seen. (within the last 4 years) They've been exceptionally close with some amazing skill in attack and defence. I am a SA supporter, and would prefer to beat the best AB team on the day, having nothing play a determining factor other than skill. Not weather, cards, bad press affecting team morale or bad referee decisions. I hate games being influenced by outside factors. I think that we are just super lucky to see what could potentially be the best game of the tournament. This obviously being a massive mountain for the BOKs If we lose we lose, and if we win, we got through the best....... I wish we had played them in 2007. Not saying we would have won but it would have been far sweeter, than winning it with a victory over Argentina and then England. I think that rain will ruin the game, and therefor end an opportunity to watch some scintillating rugby... And thats why I watch rugby.