October 2007

A great day but ultimately just a sports result. I for one am not getting carried away with the political insinuation that this will further unify our country, what bollocks, we won the world cup, we didn’t eradicate crime or build a million houses etc. It may help to resurrect the sport of rugby as a national game, but without a commitment from the public, the rugby community and the government it will become merely a memory of a few days where the South African nation shared a common goal.

What did the World Cup mean to me? Well, I am South African and will always be, I love sport, all sport, and I really love rugby, so this was one of the greatest sporting occasions of my life.

I have feelings of slight guilt that I so vehemently supported South Africa and spent such a vast quantity of money being there. I haven’t lived in SA for almost 5 years and have contributed very little to the economy and well-being of my homeland, but neither do I withdraw anything from SA, on the contrary I relentlessly promote my home country globally.

I have never complained about quotas in sport, certainly not in rugby, and I realise that whilst away from SA I personally cannot help with rugby development, so I accept any measure that those in government seek to redress the racial imbalance in the team.

I think that instead of moaning about picking teams on merit etc. the rugby fraternity should get out there and capitalise on this momentous win and sponsor development, sponsor players, sponsor teams and sponsor infrastructure. . If you really care about rugby and the future of the sport in SA then give some precious time to coaching and nurturing youngsters in traditionally non rugby environments. Otherwise, like me, you must simply accept that it will continue to be a marginal sport in our great country and government spending on the sport will continue to fall aginast its primary competitor - soccer. And therein lies the crisis for rugby, not that politicians are involved, which I agree is ludicrous, but that government spending on rugby will all but dry up, and rightly so.

Understandably now, rugby and politics are inseparable, but I hope that finally, what the support shown by the entire nation for this win might also do, is provide proof to the politicians, rugby fraternity and general public that this is just a sports team, loved by all because they represent one country and not just one sector of our nation. That is all. I hope to see the same support for the Soccer Team in 2010!

We are the World Champions and I was there to witness it. Thats a great feeling, almost as good as it felt to be there, to soak up the whole day with friends and family, then to celebrate like I had been given 24 hours to live!

This World Cup has been one helluva journey and I have experienced some wonderful lifefulfilling moments. And finally, 7 weeks after the tournament started we have been crowned Champions of the World.

I learnt La Marsellaise and La Pena Baiona, I drank Ricard and Get27 and lots of wine, I ate Tartare and Foie Gras, my face was permanently covered in the paint markings of the Tricolor from cheek kissing both men and women, I danced along to hundreds of brass bands and made friends with people from all over the country, from Carcasonne, Montpellier, Marseille, Reims, Toulon, Nice, Tours and of course Paris!

As a final goodbye I have made a sequenced photo montage of each trip to France with music reminiscent of my time out there - France, amis pour la vie!

Although the BBC Rugby World Cup blog took a lot of flack for wasting the British public’s money, I was grateful that they finally spent money on something worthwhile. And Ben Dirs has proved that with his brilliant post capturing the entire spirit of this magical World Cup. Go and read it right now, to either reminisce over the time you spent in France or to realise what exactly you missed out on, simply the best World Cup EVER!

Eventually I have secured tickets to the World Cup Final.

This is going to be the culmination of a 4 year chapter in my life. I left South Africa four years ago so I could come to London and work for six months before embarking on a month long trip to Australia to watch the World Cup in 2003 . Now, four years later, I have been on a  month long soiree in France for the  World Cup 2007 culminating in what I hope will be a victory for the Springboks on Saturday.

Could my time in the UK be up, I suppose it depends on what happens Saturday!

The biggest game of rugby in the last 4 years is almost upon us. I am going over to Paris tomorrow still without tickets but highly confident that I will be in the Stade de France to witness South Africa’s crowning as World Champions!

Finals are particularly difficult games to call, but I believe it will be a very tight game and as with the Argentina game I think we should put England under pressure and play a territory game as I don’t believe they have the skill to take us on, whereas if they make a mistake we have the ability to capitalise out wide.

Easily the most important player for SA on the day will be Butch James. I have said it for years, Butch James is by far the best flyhalf in SA and there is no way we would be where we are without him. He is the best distributer of the ball in world rugby and has played magnificently during the entire world cup. If on Saturday he tackles well and controls the game like he has done throughout the tournament the Springboks will strangle England and win convincingly.

That being said though, if Percy Montgomery has an off day with the boot and the team starts the first 20 minutes nervously we may be in for a tough ride.

It is John Smits destiny and that of the rest of this team that the trophy will be South Africas this weekend. I hope like hell we go out and play like it is ours. Come on Bokke!!!

Note: I am still looking for at least 4 tickets to the FINAL, if anybody has any to sell please get in touch with me, leave a comment here and I will get back to you!

Tomorrow I leave for what will be my third trip to France and the penulitmate one before going to the Final next weekend. So far this World Cup has been utterly amazing, games have been exciting and things have gone our way up to now. I think that all four teams have a 50-50 chance of winning, I would love to see a South Africa v France final, its the game I wished for at the beginning of the tournament and if all goes according to plan its the game we should get. IF England beat France I will be annoyed, the atmosphere won’t be great this Saturday if France lose but next weekend every Frenchman and his poodle will be supporting the Springboks against England.

Last weekend the atmosphere down in Marseille was fantastic, we stayed on the coast in a small beach resort town called Six Four Les Plages, and yet again I mixed a lot of alcohol, a lot of rugby and plenty all-night parties! I really enjoyed our time down on the Cote d’Azure, the weather was brilliant, the people were great and the passion they showed over the weekend really made for a great time.

Tomorrow we hop on the Eurostar and head over to Paris, I have taught myself the words to La Marseillaise and I am gonna be belting it out along with 50,000 other Frenchmen! I hope the English get stuffed this weekend, one bloody win against Australia and now they think they are the best team in the world. Lets face it Australia had a crap team and they’re missing Larkham, it wasn’t THAT difficult to beat them.

And could the Kiwis please just shut-up and quit whining, you lost against France in the Quarter-Final, deal with it, the best teams in the world DO NOT LOSE in Quarter-Finals. You choked and you’re going home like you do at every world Cup with a lame excuse. If you want to talk referees lets discuss kiwi Steve Walsh (who incidentally has been appointed to referee the Springboks semi-final) and his blatant mistake which cost the Sharks the Super 14 final this year, just look at this if you need proof! If any team in the world has been hard done by when it comes to referees its the Springboks and I’ve never heard a peep out of any Kiwi in support of us before, so you’ll get NO sympathy from me now either, go back to your little island, get that chip on your shoulder sorted out and start practising for 2011.

Onto Argentina, what a fantastic World Cup they’re having, they have beaten France, Ireland and Scotland so far and have arguably produced the player of the tournament in Juan Hernandez their flyhalf. South Africa should beat them, we have never lost to them, but its a world cup semi-final and anything can happen. As long as we play a tight game, and yes, I am advocating a kicking game similar to the way we played against England and make sure we close down Pichot and Hernandez, I think Argentina will play the ball back into our hands and in one or two movements we could score whereas they may struggle to score against us. I predict a really tight game and I am not really looking forward to watching yet another nailbiting finish!

My final prediction though is that John Smit will raise the world cup above his head next weekend*, its his destiny and he will be remembered as one of the greatest captains ever, and the Springboks will once again be the World Champions!

*I’m thinking with my heart here, so its more hope than an actual prediciton!