St Luke slays Loftus louts
9 Mar 2009
Keo, in his Business Day newspaper weekly column, writes of a player’s triumph and defeat at Loftus.
The Stormers lost in Pretoria but Luke Watson definitely won against a Loftus crowd whose game plan lacked imagination and was devoid of all invention.
The crowd behaviour was as abysmal as the quality of rugby and indeed it was Watson who seemed to intimidate the near 50 000 voices by simply accepting their challenge of continued booing by asking if that was all they had to offer.
It reminded me of former All Blacks wing Jeff Wilson toying with the Newlands crowd a decade ago. Wilson, playing for the Highlanders in the Super 12, was jeered the first time he touched the ball, but midway through the match he was begging the crowd for a reaction as he scored his third try.
With both hands reaching for both ears he gestured for increased noise levels, as he could hear nothing coming from the crowd. It was hilarious and the vocal bullies had nowhere to turn but to further embarrassment. What did these morons do 10 years ago in response to Wilson’s third try? Predictably they booed.
It was the same in Pretoria. What else did the louts of Loftus have to give? Nothing, and when Watson calmly robbed Pierre Spies of the ball in contact and fashioned another clever turnover all the crowd could respond with was another boo as effective as South Africa’s cricket challenge in recent weeks against Australia.
The humiliation belonged to those attempting to ridicule.
Watson, like many of his fictional heroes in the Bible, thrives on confrontation and conflict. Adversity is another must in his working day, as is being condemned by those non-believers of freedom of speech.
In going to Loftus, all the above elements were script guarantees for the stereotype of the persecuted and defiant Christian and naturally, armed with self-belief and backed by God, Watson prospered.
The Loftus crowd, many of them believers of Christianity, misread the contest because effectively they were doing battle with one of their own, but whereas they lacked conviction in their application of resentment, Watson was committed to his stand of defiance.
Watson, disgusted at wearing a jersey with a Springbok emblem on it, is not popular for saying so. He is even less popular for calling South African rugby a game run by Afrikaners, even though there has never been a disciplinary to confirm if he ever did utter the supposedly wicked word ‘dutchmen’.
Watson, the public relations man, is a boring project because his rants and contradictions are as predictable as the Loftus crowd booing. His rugby, though, has more enterprise and is powerful.
He has never produced a Test performance of authority, but his international career has been brief and conditions and playing circumstances cannot compare to the environment of Super Rugby, which is a world made for the skills of Watson.
His Super Rugby pedigree cannot be disputed. Whether you despise his personality or revere him, he can play Super rugby and in Pretoria he did a damn better job of it than local hero Pierre Spies, who for all his athleticism still goes into mute mode when the Bulls tight five engine can’t get out of neutral.
Watson in the one-on-one match-up outplayed Spies, which does not mean I’d pick him ahead of Spies for the Springboks. I wouldn’t, but to dispute Watson’s superiority over Spies at the weekend would be a betrayal for anyone gifted a healthy set of eyes.
Watson is a clever player, whose athleticism is matched by an ability to read the game and by good skills. He may physically struggle in contact but his mind never battles to go forward.
These factors helped him beat the Loftus louts, but because of his persecution complex about being a privileged white Watson in a black South Africa these factors are meaningless in Watson’s fight to beat out of himself the need to be a South African rugby martyr; liable for the actions of those who lived in an era he has only ever read about.
Watson, the rugby player, won in Pretoria, but it is Watson the rugby player who never wins in Watson’s world – and that will always be the tragedy of a player whose world does not allow him to simply be a rugby player.
1,045 Comments
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9 Mar 2009, 19:48 pm
#749 Ed_the_Lion:
with a keybord.
9 Mar 2009, 19:49 pm
#750 Supa Die Bloubul: GBS vang altyd die outjies wat Zap-signs vir die Caltex bunny wys!
9 Mar 2009, 19:50 pm
#750 Supa Die Bloubul:
9 Mar 2009, 19:51 pm
#696 blhoo: A series called “Grensoorlog” which was on Kyknet for about 6 months last year, 30 minute episodes on a Sunday evening. It may come out on DVD, it may be quite interesting…
9 Mar 2009, 19:51 pm
#752 AB:
hehehe – maar dis net omdat hy en die Caltex bunny huisvriende is.
9 Mar 2009, 19:52 pm
I quote:
“Soldiers buried the hatchet.
Politicians, Apologists and their groupies keep slinging mud.
But, that is how it is…..”
9 Mar 2009, 19:52 pm
#750 Supa Die Bloubul: As jy ‘n bril dra in Brakpan word jy sommer gekies as burgermeester.
9 Mar 2009, 19:53 pm
The racism on this blog at the beginning of this thread is shocking… I really have little time for this blog anymore this it got hijacked and Bloggers I used to respect showed their true colours.
As for Luke, watever, Loftus will always be like that. They boo’ed Monty even and I couldn’t give a stuff what they think. Watson is an overrated player, had a great game but until he makes himself as Keo said, “Just a Rugby player” I have little time for him although there is some truth to his words.
9 Mar 2009, 19:54 pm
#757 K9 Pavement-special:
hehe – ja selfs al het jou bril nie lense in nie.
9 Mar 2009, 19:54 pm
#752 AB: LMFGA!
9 Mar 2009, 19:54 pm
The Pretoria Crowd wanted to show him what they think of him. They are entitled to that. Mob rule in the Arena is the Order of the day and all players and Gladiators in history should understand it. They reflect Public Opinion.
Luke’s only mistake was to re-act the way he did. In doing so he showed he was hearing them, that he understood WHY they booed…so…the crowd knows..the message was transmitted.
So now we get to ethics….is it right, is it ok…all that stuff. I am sure 99.99% or more of Every Loftus fan who booed was NOT present when Luke spoke of the jersey, of Vomiting, of being a Bok. They respond to hearsay…to someone else who says they understand what he said??
In this sense…they were wrong…They dont know what he meant, and maybe, neither does he.
I say, its part of where we are…what we are…we should forget it and let the man play if he wants to.
BUT: If De Villiers selects him as a BOK……eish…THAT will be a test I wont miss. Maybe De Villiers has bigger Ballas than I think…..
CM
9 Mar 2009, 19:55 pm
Cheers manne en manninne. Die laaste 30 minute was nou sommer goed vir my gewees. Sien more of later weer.
9 Mar 2009, 19:55 pm
#758 Bagel:
You know Luke and JAke White got booed at Newlands right?
9 Mar 2009, 19:57 pm
#709 cab: Do you measure military success/history based on the number of casualties? I suggest then you try Delleville(sp?) wood. Yarps? That’s not very nice…
9 Mar 2009, 19:57 pm
I must say this is all rather interesting
and keo put the baited hook in the water and low and behold every little fishy just could not resist a mighty big hap at it, now the hook is biting vas and they just can’t shake the line, its reeling them in, one little fishy at a time, and wonder of wonders there is sweet f’ck all any one of them can do about it.
9 Mar 2009, 19:57 pm
#762 Ed_the_Lion:
Cheers Edd, dink ek moet ook iets te ete gaan soek. Wil inelgeval nie met die klomp Lulu fans gesels nie.
9 Mar 2009, 19:58 pm
#762 Ed_the_Lion: Cheers Ed….moet ook gou ry. Sien jou een of ander tyd in ‘n bar in Jhb saam die bulle se dancing girls.
9 Mar 2009, 19:58 pm
#756 blhoo:
i quote confucious:
‘war not determine who right or wrong, but who left’
i quote the good book:
‘there will be a final accounting at the end of time, die wat ja gestem het of wat niks gedoen het will be counted and will come back in a persecuted form in their next life’
9 Mar 2009, 19:59 pm
#727 blhoo: Ek weet, dis hoekom ek ‘n vriendelike smiley ingesit het.
9 Mar 2009, 19:59 pm
Okay everyone now for a little cricket. Kallis and AB looking very good at close today.
At 3pm they had 142 at 5pm 244. We are in with a chance to draw this test if those two can survive the new ball tomorrow morning. Just need to face the new ball for 10 overs or so and if they are still there they will be there until lunch time. Well could be. Only of course the pitch has so many cracks now. Then their bowlers looking really tired after bowling in the heat and humidity today. If those two can surive the new ball after 10 or 15 overs. Those bowlers are going to be really tired. We could draw this.
Go Proteas.
9 Mar 2009, 19:59 pm
what a shocker for this blog…just read through the comments….makes me rather sad to be a saffa…
9 Mar 2009, 19:59 pm
Mmmmm,
Wie moer ek eerste…. K9 of Supa of Ed…
Julle fokkerrrsssssss, skinder julle lekwar !
9 Mar 2009, 20:00 pm
#765 yliad: And now it’s your turn, because we all know you couldn’t miss this debate for the end of the world. I’m also almost more often than not agreeing with you.
So please rant away Skoppie…
9 Mar 2009, 20:01 pm
#738 cab: True, I’ll re-read 911′s piece. I’m still catching up on the thread.
9 Mar 2009, 20:01 pm
#772 grootblousmile: Hol manne!!!
9 Mar 2009, 20:01 pm
#767 K9 Pavement-special: K9 you watch any of the cricket today?
9 Mar 2009, 20:01 pm
#770 Puma: watched the last hour and a half…you 100%…the first hour will be so crucial tomorrow…what a fantastic stage for Kallis to maybe get that elusive 200 ??
9 Mar 2009, 20:02 pm
I wonder if anyone would like to have this saga go a different route, different players on the stage of action and reaction,
well the answer my friends, as my friend bob would have said, is blowing in the wind, because as much as you wish it to go away or have happened some other way, there is no hope in hell that it could have, it was all written long before any of you even opened up your minds to the catastrophe of it all.
9 Mar 2009, 20:02 pm
#774 hjk:
its pretty interesting, think i know why the refs were blowing our okes on overseas tour of 3n, they seem to go off their feet when clearing out.
9 Mar 2009, 20:03 pm
#778 yliad:
i always that that song was about someone farting.
9 Mar 2009, 20:03 pm
#768 cab:
now who the f’ck is quoting the good book all of a sudden
9 Mar 2009, 20:04 pm
#775 AB: Ja, pasop jy ook…. jy kannie hol nie want jou hol is seer perd gery…. ek breek sommer jou heup en knoop jou kateterpype !
9 Mar 2009, 20:05 pm
#781 yliad:
i’ve converted. its from the book of revelations.
9 Mar 2009, 20:05 pm
#771 grant10: Yip, I just scroll down.
We could pull off a miracle tomorrow with the cricket. Kallis and AB batting well. Just have to hang in there facing the new ball in the morning.
9 Mar 2009, 20:06 pm
#780 cab:
well the **** bloweth where it listeth and one cannot know whither it cometh or whither it goeth, so it will blow wherever it will
time we got the hang of catching its drift.
9 Mar 2009, 20:06 pm
#743 hater: Well, if I had to choose between Lefortovo under Stalin or Robben Island under the Afrikaners, put me on Robben Island, and that’s what I was commenting on. You don’t know me, have no idea of who I am, what I’ve seen or what I’ve done, and your assumptions are pretty stupid, and your insults are, well, meaningless.
You said earlier that you’d like to have true equality (my paraphrase) but I think what you really want is to do everything that you said, to white people. I believe you’d want to rape, kill, maim and otherwise humiliate white people like you say in the bit I’m responding to. If you get to do all those things, will you be happy? Will you be a good person, will you have achieved your life’s work? I think your hate is eating you up from the inside and I’m really sorry for you.
9 Mar 2009, 20:06 pm
K9 en Supa het hulself skoon stil geskrik nou….
As mens “vriende” soos julle het, dan het mens nie vyande nodig nie…
Hehehehe
9 Mar 2009, 20:07 pm
#783 cab:
tinkle tinkle, now we getting the hang of things, round and round the merry go round we go, till we get to realize you gotta get off the spinning wheel if you want any kind of perspective at all.
9 Mar 2009, 20:08 pm
#777 grant10: Hoping just need to survive the new ball for about 10 to 15 overs tomorrow morning. Bowlers looking very tired. The heat and humidity there is dreadful. If we survive those overs and they will get so tired. Maybe just maybe we can pull off a draw tomorrow.
9 Mar 2009, 20:08 pm
#787 grootblousmile:
Naand GBS!!!!
Uhm…jammer ek het so bietjie verdwyn…uhm..moes net gou…iewers…heen gaan.
Hoop dit gaan goed met u?
9 Mar 2009, 20:10 pm
#784 Puma: will need some real miracle effort but johnson looked tired and siddle definitley a bit injured…also 3 down without smith…perhaps he will need to come in to hold up an end if neccessary…heres hoping for a miracle…stranger things have happened!
9 Mar 2009, 20:10 pm
#789 Puma:
Ek raak elke keer opgewonde as daar n partnership ontwikkel, net om weer teleurgestel te word.
Sal verbaas wees as ons dit maak more, selfs n draw. MAar n wen sal grens aan n wonderwerk. Dit sal die hoogste laaste innigns score met meer as n 100 oorskry.
9 Mar 2009, 20:10 pm
#788 yliad:
alright better catch the train, might have been some banter to end the solemn topic with, but alas time wait for no man, at the end there can be only one – was that the good book or highlander?
9 Mar 2009, 20:11 pm
#790 Supa Die Bloubul: Mmmm die virus werk nou mooi op Supalina se PC…. jou fokkkerrrrr !
9 Mar 2009, 20:13 pm
#794 grootblousmile:
Jy kan nie rekenaarsiektes versprei nie! Veral nie vanaf Brakpan nie! Supalina is onskuldig!!
9 Mar 2009, 20:14 pm
#791 grant10: Yes bowlers looking very tired. If one of these go out then we only have JP the others are not batting well. Hoping for a draw.
#792 Supa Die Bloubul: Hope we can bat with these two until that new ball is old. Only need about 10 to 15 overs. They must stay focused. Cant see us winning. A draw would be awesome.
9 Mar 2009, 20:14 pm
Lions on sat…another tough one…especially with lions coming in fresh…hope we dont play like in the 1 st 40 min on sat…
9 Mar 2009, 20:16 pm
#795 Supa Die Bloubul: Supalina issie onskuldig nie…. sy het met JOU getrou ! Mmmmm maar dit is seker genoeg straf vir haar opsigself…
9 Mar 2009, 20:16 pm
#796 Puma:
Ja, gaan taai wees. MAar as KAllis en AB net vandag se prestasie kan herhaal kan ons naby kom…aai daar kry ek al weer my hopes op!
9 Mar 2009, 20:17 pm
#796 Puma: any news on alistair hargreaves injury….he really has looked good when coming on for the sharks…one for the future!
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