Comments on: Why Rugby Matters…or Not! http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/ Bring on the good times! Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:05:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 By: 6000 http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/#comment-50873 6000 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:15:18 +0000 http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/#comment-50873 So where now? Do South Africans want the best players or the black players to represent them? Even Habana and Petersen are "not black enough". So what happens now? The Rugby fever sweeping the country is fantastic, and I have to agree with Cape Talk presenter John Maytham that yes, we SHOULD allow ourselves to forget about the problems SA faces for a while and enjoy the crest of the wave. Why must people interrupt the ecstasty in order to bring ugly reality back to the fore? That will happen soon enough anyway. This victory is not good news for football here though. More ammunition for the (vocal and white) population claiming that 2010 is a waste of time and money, as the Boks hit the top spot in world rugby and the (COSAFA Cup Winning) Bafana Bafana slide to 74th. I can't see it working out in their favour any time soon. Sorry - I don't have the answers, but here's an interesting stat - with 8% of South Africa being white, even the soccer team, with 2 white players, is skewed in favour of the paler race. So where now?
Do South Africans want the best players or the black players to represent them? Even Habana and Petersen are “not black enough”. So what happens now?
The Rugby fever sweeping the country is fantastic, and I have to agree with Cape Talk presenter John Maytham that yes, we SHOULD allow ourselves to forget about the problems SA faces for a while and enjoy the crest of the wave. Why must people interrupt the ecstasty in order to bring ugly reality back to the fore? That will happen soon enough anyway.

This victory is not good news for football here though. More ammunition for the (vocal and white) population claiming that 2010 is a waste of time and money, as the Boks hit the top spot in world rugby and the (COSAFA Cup Winning) Bafana Bafana slide to 74th. I can’t see it working out in their favour any time soon.

Sorry - I don’t have the answers, but here’s an interesting stat - with 8% of South Africa being white, even the soccer team, with 2 white players, is skewed in favour of the paler race.

]]> By: 6000 http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/#comment-50874 6000 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:20:29 +0000 http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/#comment-50874 Oh - and - Andy Colquhoon (yeah - had to look up the spelling on that one!) - editor of Rugby World SA supports your view that rugby needs to transform, but he is suggesting by 2019, rather than 2011, which is what the Government wants. And which is just inviting disaster. Oh - and - Andy Colquhoon (yeah - had to look up the spelling on that one!) - editor of Rugby World SA supports your view that rugby needs to transform, but he is suggesting by 2019, rather than 2011, which is what the Government wants. And which is just inviting disaster.

]]> By: Roger Gordon http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/#comment-50879 Roger Gordon Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:00:47 +0000 http://wozafriday.com/2007/10/25/why-rugby-mattersor-not/#comment-50879 "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." I totally agree. Personally, I think there is space for both soccer and rugby, and was really touched to see green and gold jerseys for a couple of days on the most unlikely people. It's certainly true that winning the world cup won't unite a whole society, and yes, the victory will soon be forgotten, but at the very least, the victory has shown me what a united society looks like, and I like it very much. Thanks a stack for coming by my blog and commenting. What do you do in the UK? “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.”

I totally agree. Personally, I think there is space for both soccer and rugby, and was really touched to see green and gold jerseys for a couple of days on the most unlikely people.
It’s certainly true that winning the world cup won’t unite a whole society, and yes, the victory will soon be forgotten, but at the very least, the victory has shown me what a united society looks like, and I like it very much.

Thanks a stack for coming by my blog and commenting. What do you do in the UK?

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