NADER na die pale toe! We're getting there. One game at a time. The thing is not to lose focus now. The Lions might be bottom of the log but this is a derby match (Natal versus Transvaal in the old intelligible language) and anything can happen. We musn't slip up.
I happened to be in the Middle East for last year's Currie Cup final. My TV went on the blink (as happens when there's nobody to help with the set) about half an hour before the game. I had to catch a cab from one end of Dubai to the other, to a pub where I knew they would be screening the match, and there I found myself watching in the company of two burly Transvalers. It was a painful experience. Not again!
What rugby we are being treated to now that the Sharks have found their rhythm. Province didn't know what had hit them last week. The score flattered them. One freak runaway try and one brilliant try from a forward pass.
When will those so-called assistant referees on the touchline start calling these things? It's not just forward passes. When there's a kick-and-chase, so often the chasers are offside by a pace or two as they set off. It's critical to the outcome.
And when, for that matter, will referees start insisting that scrumhalves put the ball in straight? They blow the slightest deviation in the line-out (and quite rightly) yet the scrumhalf is allowed to feed the ball virtually under the feet of his front rank. The tighthead heel has virtually disappeared from the game – a part of the craft of scrumwork – and with it the game-turning uncertainty it brings.
A little bird tells me the IRB has spotted the weakness (after how many years?) and is about to do something about it – which would be absolutely simple, just tell the refs to apply the laws as they exist. I hope that little bird is right. But he was singing in the Duikers' and over-optimism might have been induced by a few pints of XXX. I will believe it when I see it.
However, all this is to digress. What a splendid game it was - thrilling, quality rugby from a side that has got what it takes and believes in itself. At last things have clicked. And what a triumph for the gals of the Thunder Bar, whose predictions have been on the button every game. There's even talk that Katinka and her suspender belt – the new rugby oracle – will be co-opted to the national selection panel.
What of tomorrow? Katinka snaps at her suspender belt: "Ze Sharks all ze vay! Zis iss Rollus-Royce versus beat-up banger. Ze boys must yoost play, play, play, 80 minutes. Tackle, tackle, tackle! I luff zat Pat Lambie, beautiful boy! Unt soon ze beefcake Fransie Steyn. Ooh-la-la!" Snap! Snap!
Well, there we have it. One game at a time it is. We're mauling it. Nader na die pale toe!
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