The Future: Immediately Nerve Wracking yet Gradually Bright

 Rugby World Cup Opinion Piece

Springbok Rugby - UglyBeautiful

That game against England saw a new World Record possibly being set. That being the Highest National Average Heart Rate. One boy was even seen on video being encouraged by his mother to, "Phefumla, baba...hayi shem (shame)!" What really sent the heart rates running was our collective belief that, 60 minutes in, the Springboks had zero chance of coming away with a victory. We, as spectators, had given up. Another new record was set that day - the record for Collective Disbelief. What transpired at the hooter was unreal. Beyond reasoning. Inexplicable. We had no words for the reality that lay before our eyes. Ask my sister - we sat on a video call shortly after the final whistle and simply looked at each other (for a good 5 minutes) with wide eyes and our hands over our mouths. Unable to utter a single word. The same happened with another friend of mine, a long-distance call to Myanmar, where we simply guffawed and gawked about the scenes we'd just witnessed. The call ended with, "(Nick) Mallet is about to make his post-match analysis...chat later!" Nick Mallet, if you ever read this, you are a household hero to us mere laymen. Please never stop...

These past few days I've been thinking of writing to the people at Oxford Dictionary to suggest that they enter the word "uglybeautiful" into their book. The definition being, "Adj. - To accomplish a seemingly unattainable goal in a delayed, unconventional manner, which in turn causes onlookers to experience a deep sense of anxiety, dread and disbelief". In this case, context is important, and in my letter I would urge the dictionary-deciders to include "South African origin  - see fans' online reactions to 'Springbok semi-final win' for contextual/cultural understanding" in their definition of the word.

But looking forward to the immediate future, Manie Libbok's hopes of a first World Cup fairytale are shot. He has been on the receiving end of the dark side of the SA Players' Motto, "One Team, One Mission". He has a lot of time and growth ahead of him, and no doubt his team spirit will award him an opportunity in the next episode's grand finale. "Believe!" He may not be in the the matchday 23, but he (along with Canan Moodie) are going to burn up the pitch in Australia 2027. Hopefully he sticks to the systems and remains in the mix for the next World Cup Cycle. We've seen a classic example in Herschel Jantjies who was the Springbok's next big thing, and for whatever reason (be it the Springbok Blueprint, Herschel's mindset, etc..) he fell out of favor with the broader Team and greater Mission. Libbok is our glimmer of hope that can unlock our talented backline attack.

Like him or not, we need him to grow if we want the Springboks to evolve the running-and-passing element that has reared its head in our attack. From what we've heard in the press conferences, he does have the capability to act as a general on defense, much like we see in Pollard. Libbok had a howler on defense against Bundee Aki - get him some skills to bring down the big buffaloes and he'll surely cement his place as SA's main hunter for the 10 jersey. He has competition in 22 year old Jordan Hendrikse, a youngster who continued to quietly turn up for the Lions before a shoulder injury sidelined him last year. He also has a monster boot on him, and shaved a penalty past the uprights from 60+ meters. In the Highveld, yes, but impressive nonetheless. He has since been pinched by the Sharks for the next URC season - a rather fortunate team to be part of if he wiggles his way past Lionel and Boeta to make it into the starting lineup. Competition is healthy, and we could see two attacking fly-halves become first-choice picks for the next RWC. Pollard is only 29, so there is a strong possibility that he'll remain in the set-up if the International Eligibility Rule for SARU remains lax as it currently is.