I did watch the match on Saturday night. I felt I had to really although I'm not a huge rugby fan.
The atmosphere here was hyped up, to say the least. I'd spent the afternoon at a friend's house in the valley (away from all rugby talk!) and we popped into Spur (S.Africa's favourite steak house) for food on the way to watch rugby at church. The TVs were already on and EVEN SPUR was closing at 8pm on a Saturday night so that the staff could watch...
We watched the first half at my church on big screen, a very well-attended event. They'd had a braai just before. The room was full of 120 S.Africa supporters and me. I shouted 'come on England' at appropriate moments at a volume barely audible by mice...
My Zulu friend Mdu had never seen a rugby match before (he's a soccer boy) and was quite fascinated by the hype. But he concluded after a few moments that the game was 'a bit rough'... and he wasn't too bothered when we left at half time to get home.
The biggest joy of the evening was the N3. We passed 1 lorry and 2 cars on a normally hectic busy motorway. It was bliss! ;-)
I watched the rest of the game alone at home. Sorry for England, but hey, we did win last time so it's only fair to allow others a moment of glory. After the game the TV coverage went to various places around the country for 'how the people are celebrating' report. Durban was the funniest. The presenter got mobbed and you couldn't hear a word. So they switched cameras to a woman and the same thing happened to her. Then a random woman looking for her friend wandered into shot. It was classic botch-up television...
Amahle (aged 6) reminded me last night that South Africa had beaten England and that England were the losers. I thought I should maybe beat him at basketball for that comment, but then the nicer side of me kicked in and I allowed him to win. He does have a disadvantage in being about 3 ft 6...
