Everything in my world is about rugby at the moment. For those of you who live in rugby-free nations, I can describe the sport as something a little like football, only the guys run holding the ball and the goals are like a high-jump bars. The ball is also a weird oval shape and the men go to war on the field to keep their hands on this very odd ball. It resembles what you’d imagine ancient weapon-less combat to look like with two nations coming head to head in archaic, chaotic battle. Somehow, this crazy, sweaty, bloody brawl is completely entertaining.
South Africa is one of the top rugby nations in the world. We’ve won the world cup (which happens once every four years) twice despite having only been participating since 1995 when our government changed and the world opened up to us. South Africans are obsessed with rugby. Part of this is because it was a huge contributor to uniting our country after the fall of apartheid in 1994. When we won the cup in 1995 we saw people from all cultures, colours and tribes hugging and crying over the fact that we’d achieved so much in such a short time.
The greatest supporter of all of this rugby-madness is our most favourite legend and ex-president, the very special Nelson Mandela. If you haven’t watched Clint Eastwood’s rendition of this miraculous time, make sure you do. Invictis is a beautiful tale that shares our South African miracle, albeit with a little poetic license.
Rugby World Cup 2011 kicked off a month ago. South Africans were revved to the max. We all bought the t-shirts and any other necessary supporters’ gear so we were suited for battle. We even made available pink shirts for women and little ‘bokkie’ dresses with the cutest designs. And every Friday over the past few months has been ‘Bok Friday’ in solidarity behind our special team, the Springboks.
We expected to make it through right to the end. We expected to win and relive the absolute exhilaration we feel whenever we win a big tournament and relive the unity of 1995. We didn’t expect to be taken out by Australia in the quarter finals despite playing significantly better than they did. But that is what happened this year. We were knocked out and we were completed devastated.
From Fridays being filled with green and gold, this Friday people opted to wear black – only the very brave stood proud and strong in our national colours. Though I was one of those in mourning, I must admit that I felt a sense of shame. We had stopped supporting our team because they lost one game. Is that real support? Is that loyalty? Imagine if we stopped loving our children when they made one mistake? Or we stopped working at a company when we had one bad day? What losers we would be!
May I encourage you to be a winner this week even when you lose? It is how we behave when we’ve been knocked down that is a real reflection of how high we stand in our own shoes. Let’s be High Heelers no matter what! Have a wonderful week.
Cheers,
Jo
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