What a send off!

6 Sep 2011

I was in Livingstone on Thursday and switched on the TV for the official send off for the Springboks. I have to admit that I got goosebumps when I saw how many people had turned out to show their support for the Boks. I have always been proud to be South African, but that amount of support really took my patriotism to another level. I tried to remember what our farewell was like in 2003 and my memories were very vague. This confirms my suspicion that it was nothing like what we saw last Thursday in Sandton. The players looked incredibly neat in their number ones and we can really be proud of the team we are sending to New Zealand. I even noticed that Francois Steyn cut his hair for the occasion. I also think it was a great touch that they used the Gautrain as their mode of transport to the airport. I really was gobsmacked by the whole event and it made me think that something special was brewing. The Boks really haven't had the greatest of build-ups to this World Cup, but they beat New Zealand in their last game and that would have given them massive confidence going into the tournament.

The most attractive man in the world

I see that the media in New Zealand have already started playing games. Apparently they asked Peter de Villiers if John Smit deserved to be in the squad. Peter's answer was that John is currently the best hooker in the world and that Roxy, his wife, thinks he is the most attractive man in the world. Sometimes you have got to love his sense of humour. The pressure will be on the Boks to perform and their first game will be a very tough one against Wales. No team has ever lost a pool game and gone on to become World Champions. A convincing win will give us a lot of confidence and probably help us to finish first in our group. We have an immensely talented squad and it will be interesting to see what Peter de Villiers does when he selects his first team later this week. My feeling is that he will pick John to start the game and then Bismarck du Plessis later on. There is no reason why we should struggle in the scrums, so John's inclusion should not have a great bearing on that facet of the game. His leadership and presence in the team will, however, have a great impact as all teams are very nervous going into their first games. Personally, I can't wait for the opening game on Friday.

Lions to turn the corner?

On the local front there is still the Currie Cup going on and there were some interesting results. My prediction that the Bulls and their supporters are in for a tough few years seems to be coming true. They got a decent hiding from the Sharks, even though the scoreline flatters the Bulls. Western Province did very well to pull a win out of the fire after they went down 15 points to nil against Griquas. The boys from Kimberley must have been very confident after they beat the Cheetahs last week. The Province players remained calm and scored some fantastic tries to secure the bonus point win. They now lie second on the log behind the Lions. The last time the Lion won the Currie Cup was in 1999 and that was also a World Cup year in which most of the Springboks were not playing. Who knows, maybe this will be the year when the Lions turn the corner and bring back all those faithful supporters who have had a very tough 12 years.

About Corné Krige

Corné Krige; former captain of the Springboks has had a successful rugby career, playing 39 tests for South African in total of 18 of which were as Captain as well as leading the Springboks in the World Cup in 2003. Corné now lives in Melkbosstrand with his wife Justine and three children. He owns his own company, CK Outdoor which specializes in Outdoor Advertising and is sports contributor to Bizcommunity's BizLifestyle section.