I arrived in Johannesburg to temperatures of 13 degrees, compared to the 43 degrees that I’d left behind in Dubai. I think I prefer the cool weather; it’s easier to warm up than cool down, although I have very little winter clothing with me.
Together with a couple of friends, I had bought a season ticket for Loftus Versveld rugby ground in Pretoria some time back, for the express purpose of watching the Second Test between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions. Although I was born and raised in South Africa, I now live in Edinburgh and consider myself Scottish as far as supporting rugby teams go. However the Lions have hardly any Scots in their ranks and none in the starting line up, I decided to back the Boks.
The pre-match build up was good and we were nicely oiled and ready for the match, it started in the worst possible manner for South African supporters with Schalk Burger being sent to the sin bin after 30 seconds for eye gouging. I had been a huge fan, but he went down in my estimation from that moment on, I don’t know what possessed him. The match for South Africans didn’t improve, but they managed to score three tries to one and clawed their way back into contention to draw level with four minutes to go. A last minute penalty by the local replacement flyhalf gave South Africa a win. The Lions supporters who were there in large numbers were understandably devastated at the result.
The afterparty was a little muted, but got going once the beer started flowing. Unfortunately the band playing was a traditional South African Afrikaans band that had little appeal for the touring supporters who were in the majority.
The lack of public transport around the ground rather limited us to remaining within the vicinity of the ground and our bed-and-breakfast. There were a few “London style” black cabs around but private taxi hire is still a problem in South Africa generally.
