Captain Cook, Friday, June 8, 2012

A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets ...

 

YES, last Saturday was pretty apocalyptic and disturbing. Maritzburg College getting a pasting from Kearsney then the debacle at Ellis Park. A lioness hath whelped in the streets indeed.

I didn't realise I knew so many Kearsney fellows. They've been phoning me, e-mailing me, stopping me in the street. In vain do I explain to them that, on a points for and against basis over the past 100 years, College are still way ahead. They laugh in derision. These Kearsney blokes always were dumb at maths.

Ellis Park? I hand you to Katinka, Ukrainian lead dancer in the Thunder Bar, whose suspender belt has proved an unerring guide to the Sharks' rugby fortunes.

Snap! Snap! "Vot is ziss? Playink ze 10 meenuts? Like I say last veek, ze Sharks gotta play ze 80 meenuts, eye on ball, zese Liyons iss dangerous beast. Vot for ze snoozink? Zey sink zey yoost gotta peetch to get ze points? Hey, vake up fellows!" Snap! Snap!

I tend to agree with her. They came at us from the opening seconds with booster rockets. Our midfield defence was terribly disorganised. We let them run at us and by half-time it was too late to catch up. They can say what they like about fitness, professionalism etc but the fact remains – when you turn it on the way we did against the Stormers, it's very difficult to lift your game to the same level a week later.

And was it not good for rugby? The Lions were magnificent on the day, they showed they belong in the Super competition and if they were relegated to make way for some outfit cobbled together in Port Elizabeth it would be an infamy.

Meanwhile, a little bird tells me that issue is by no means done and dusted. I imagine the TV networks and the other sponsors might have plenty to say about the Lions being taken out of the competition. Let's watch this one.

And here we are on the eve of a Test against England. That this is a big 'un goes without saying. What cannot be said in advance is how the Boks will mesh, not having played together. As Smuts used to say, the whole is greater than the sum of its constituent parts. This is especially true in rugby. A functioning team plays as a cohesive unit. They've been through the Six Nations, we've had a few talk sessions. This will be tough.

A rugby bonanza weekend starts today with lunch at Riverside Sports Club in honour of Frans de Beer, Chairman of Duikers. Will Katinka jump out of the cake? Roll up and see!