SonOfAPitch

The time…11pm.  Date 14/10/2007.

As per my previous statement when I started this blog, my main focus will be on writing about the happenings in the world of cricket, or wherever my inquiring mind, inquisitive nature or love of sport takes me.

So why would the above time and date be so important?  Well, I just watched the semi final between SA and Argentina in the IRB Rugby World Cup.

Some would say that the only reason I would decide to put pen to paper (so to speak, it’s more like putting digits to keyboard really) was because SA had a stake in the match, won it and since I am a South African it would be an obvious topic to write about it.  You would not be far wrong for thinking that, but because I write about more than just scores and results (you know, outcome based writing…) I NEEDED to write about the game and other observations simply because that I believe there is much more to this specific world cup than meets the eye.

Firstly, congratulations to the Boks for thrashing Argentina 37 – 13.  It was clinical enough to be able to sit back, enjoy the moment and relive the positives.  Bryan Habana has developed into an absolute star.  Widely believed in the rugby fraternity to be the quickest human to ever run out on the rugby pitch (personally I would love to see a 1 on 1 sprint between Habana and Ngwenya of the USA) many believed that speed was his only attribute when he first came on the scene.  The skill he showed in chipping the ball over the forwards of Argentina and chasing it down and ANTICIPATING the lateral bounce and taking it chest high in a fluid motion for the 50m plus try, showed more than just unadulterated pace, it showed maturity.  Something I wish will rub off on Francois Steyn very soon. 

Steyn, you are talented, but you are also young.  Time will teach you that rugby is a 15 man game and having a great game in the Tri-Nations against Oz does not entitle you to believe that you CAN run the ball from anywhere or drop a goal from your own 22.  The same happened to Brent Russel a few short years ago and these days he struggles to get himself into contention for higher honors.  Learn quickly, or you may just find yourself on the bench more often than not.

My focus now changes slightly.  Throughout this world cup I have seen lesser sides, and some bigger sides every now and again, get away with murder on the field.  From off the ball incidents, blatant misconduct, forward passes not picked up (not always easy to pick it up, but nevertheless) to high tackles galore.  Maybe my prejudice towards my national side is hampering my judgment, but … Is it just me, or are the referees and officials targeting the SA squad in their matches?  I find it very hard to believe that when two sides of 15 grown up beefy motherfluffers take to a field that there can be only one side that transgresses on the laws.  Yet the citing of Schalk Burger in the match against Samoa, the later citing of Steyn and tonight the penalty given to the Pumas when John Smit “was involved in a “off-the-ball incident” looked very suspect.  The penalty in question against the SA skipper was especially suspect as the linesman was very quick to point the incident out, but on the replay it was quite evident that the Argentinian was the actual offender!  It leaves the question on why this would be the case?  Now for the sake of not coming across as a conspiracy theorist, I am going to take a very definite back seat on this issue and just state, for the record, that I believe that the refereeing in this tournament is of poor standard.

At times during this match one could have been forgiven for thinking he was watching Manchester United playing FC Porto.  There was a fair amount of soccer skills displayed by both sides…from clever little ground kicks to instinctive hoofing up the field to the very silly high flying “soccer dives” to manipulate the referees into raising an arm and blowing the whistle…wink wink…*cough*contepomi*cough*

I still remarked to my wife before the start of the game that I felt proud as a rugby lover to witness a team like Argentina in the semis as they did extraordinarily well to get there.  Even though I expected that the fairy tale would inevitably end, I did expect the game to be played in a very good spirit.  But much like their soccer counterparts, all South American teams tend to carry their emotions on their sleeve, and the game very nearly turned sour in the latter stages of the second half once the Argentineans got out of reach of the score they were chasing.  The most embarrassing moment, I feel, was when Juan Smith got sent off for a high tackle (that could have happened to everyone trying to defend your try line) and the Argentineans decided to go ape.  I thought for a second about how silly you need to be to start throwing punches and sour the game, when my thoughts was not even evaporated yet and a Puma idiot decided to back palm Bismarck Du Plessis in the face.  Personally, if I was Bismarck, and this was not a game that would have had an impact on me featuring in the final, knowing full well that I indulge in Klipdrift brandy on weekends, that puma would have gone down boy!!

After the needle I witnessed at the end of the game my initial feeling of pride for the Pumas had made way for a good old fashioned feeling of “pack your bags and &*%$ off boys” feeling.

I am sure that many would agree with me that this world cup is extraordinary in many respects.  Much was expected of Ireland but they folded like a flimsy house of cards under pressure.  O’Driscol never got his troops going and they exited prematurely.  I never really expected much of Wales, so bugger off expecting some deep insight from me on why they were so poor in this tourney.  Charvis, especially, was disappointing.  New Zeeland had probably the best build up to this world cup of all the sides.  Much like a school friend of mine remarked in his own blog, many expected them to arrive and conquer with no sweat spilt.  But I, for one, felt uneasy about their chances.  Mainly because their coach came across waaaaaaay to arrogant for my liking.  When Henry ran his mouth off during the tri-nations I honestly expected an early exit for them.  With a statement like “If I have to win a world cup based on defense, I would rather not win it at all” he pretty much got what he wanted.

So with “minnows” pushing the limits against their much esteemed counterparts, big guns flying home early and the odd narrow victory for various sides, the semi finals panned out in such a fashion that even the best bookies in the world could not have predicted it.

The team with undoubtedly the worst run going into the tourney playing against the host nation, and the only “powerhouse” left in the form of SA duking it out against a bunch of passionate Latin Americans.  Funny how it turned out that two pools in the tourney had no representatives in the semis.   Even more frightening is the fact that we (SA) have to face England AGAIN… this time though in the final.  But again, teams from the same pool. 

Kaya Molotana summed it up perfectly in his post match analysis.  He said in no uncertain terms that SA would do very well to forget about the 36 – 0 win over England in the pool game.  England are playing 10 times better now than three weeks ago, and with a point to prove and the possibility of being the only side ever to defend a title they will be a totally different opponent in the final next Saturday.

 
So rejoice, all South Africans.  We are on the verge of another title and we have done well.  Here’s to Bryan Habana attempting to break Jonah Lomu’s record of 8 tries in a tournament.  But let’s not get totally carried away now.  Francois Pienaar said it best in 1995… “You don’t play yourself into a final only to lose it”.