Sackcloth and ashes
OH BOY, sackcloth and ashes. The rugby Test in Brisbane confirmed that our game has somehow become hollowed out. It goes beyond current selections or coaching teams. We just haven't adapted to the realities of the professional era.
At Kings Park it was a big reality check for the Sharks – life is serious after all– but at the same time confirmation by Free State that provincial rugby can still provide the basics – forward movement from the set pieces, purposeful driving play.
But overall it's a depressing scenario. It's as if we've lost that dynamic layer between schools rugby and the very top that produced Springbok rugby. Club rugby has been sidelined. There just is not the pool of top players any more, reduced also by a steady siphoning off of talent to play overseas.
Where a country like New Zealand has an incoming conveyor belt of talent from the Pacific islands, we have an outgoing belt to France and the Home Unions. It's difficult to find an answer.
Wellington
BY CHANCE, after the Test the sports channel switched to Wellington (the one in the Cape winelands) where Worcester Villagers were about to take on Welkom Rovers in the Gold Cup, which is a valiant attempt to breathe new life into our club rugby on a national basis.
In the build-up somebody mentioned the King's Park Easter Tournament which in the amateur days decided the national club championship and had out on the pitch teams consisting of Springbok and provincial players, producing absolutely brilliant rugby in their club colours. Wonderful stuff.
Them were the days. It'll be a very long haul getting back to that, if it's at all possible. But a start is a start. Worcester Villagers are one of the oldest rugby clubs in South Africa. The Boland – the provincial union – apparently has more clubs than any other union in South Africa.
Yes, a good place to start taking club rugby seriously again. But probably too late.
Rag stunt?
LAST time I was in Wellington it was for a wedding. As we drove down the main street of the town, a banner was strung across: "Welcome to the Duke and Duchess of Wellington!"
A rag stunt? No, it turned out the Duke and Duchess of Wellington actually were in town, having tea with the mayor. There are several towns called Wellington strung about the Commonwealth – we all know the Kiwi one – and apparently the current duke and duchess spend much of their time visiting them.
Our Wellington, in the heart of the Cape winelands and mountains, must surely be the most scenic of them all.
G20 knees-up
INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener is dismissive of gatherings like the recent G20.
"It's rather hard to take seriously these gatherings of the great and good like the recent G20 knees-up in Hangzhou. They are suspiciously similar to old boys' reunions. The order of events is: Find out who is missing since last time, attend the meeting, stand in place for the photo and then head for the bar.
"Naturally Number One was there avoiding the ANC's full tilt demolition derby. The Brics Brigade held a sideline breakout session and in their group photo JZ is pictured clutching Putin's hand tightly and smiling as if he had just confirmed a nuclear power station deal.
"This must have been their first Brics meeting since Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was impeached, so JZ was doubtless making nervous inquiries about her fate.
"The new Fab Five issued an anodyne and meaningless statement full of phrases like '… strive to facilitate market interlinkages and an inclusive, rules based and open economy.' The main rule in most economies seems to be 'try not to get caught with one's hand actually in the cookie jar'."
Tense times
IAN Gibson, poet laureate of Hillcrest, pens a few lines on current political issues:
.The nation's in a state of suspense,
The Gordhan affair is making us tense;
With a new Public Protector,
And Thuli? We won't forget her;
Whilst others are causing offence.
Tailpiece
THE SPANISH knight arrives at dusk at a poor inn, and alights from his horse.
The innkeeper greets him at the door and asks his name.
"Don Pedro Gonzalez Gayetan de Guevara."
"Alas, senor, we do not have food for so many."
Last word
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
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