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, 21:22 pm
#848 alf: point well delivered…
9 Mar 2009, 21:22 pm
#845 grant10: Enjoy your guests, you won’t be getting much enjoyment here tonight. Perhaps we should go to a different thread to communicate!
9 Mar 2009, 21:25 pm
#852 carol: i have to move along …glad i caught you princess….owe you a mail…been a bit crazy…will get to it soon…feel a bit deflated after the last couple of days poison overload…you have a good evening …i am outta here! ***
9 Mar 2009, 21:26 pm
Next time, no more Mr. Nice guy. We were nice last Saturday and we only get criticism.
9 Mar 2009, 21:26 pm
#853 grant10: I don’t enjoy this Night Owl poison……
I’m outta here too…..catch you soon ***
9 Mar 2009, 21:28 pm
#849 grant10:
Well according the poll, we still got one huge mountain of a way to go before that comes around.
What do you think of Loftus Versfeld’s booing of Luke Watson?
* Spot on
230 or 45% of all votes
* I don’t like Luke, but it was unnecessary
160 or 31% of all votes
* It was a disgrace
118 or 23% of all votes
Total Votes: 508
9 Mar 2009, 21:29 pm
#812 Stawm:
maybe stawm, i’m not the sharpest, i just give my opinion, like that oft-used funny on keo, like arseholes everyone has one.
i am of the opinion war is stupid, money can be better spent on bibles. very rarely is war justified, no war that the SADF fought was a just one, but then again they were more skirmishes and a chance for okes to strut around a bit and try and show they were men and all.
9 Mar 2009, 21:29 pm
Shoo wee. When I went to work this mornin’ Hater was a hatin’ and when I get back from work Hater is still a hatin’.
Come comrade sister, let all the anger go… let’s take a deap breath and breathe out all the evil hate from inside you.
9 Mar 2009, 21:35 pm
why don’t the happier night owls simply move to a non-political thread?
serious suggestion.
9 Mar 2009, 21:36 pm
So bietjie krieket:
Kallis en AB moet die eerste 15 overs oorleef, en 58 lopies op die telbord byvoeg.
Dan is daar 75 boulbeurte oor en nog 250 lopies om te kry teen 3.3 lopies per boulbeurt.
So maklik soos dit …
Wat nodig is, is dat een van hierdie twee kolwers regdeur die beurt sal moet kolf en ‘n 200 moet kry. Hopelik doen Kallis dit, want hy kon dit as ons beste kolwer nog nooit regkry nie (AB is nog jonk ek sal sy beurt nog kry).
Ek voorspel dat Kallis die wenlopies gaan slaan van die voorlaaste boulbeurt !
9 Mar 2009, 21:38 pm
I am a bit tired…tough day…I need some energy..Skoppie will carry the flame..Good night all
9 Mar 2009, 21:38 pm
#859 cab:
I thought I may have chased you away
seeing the watermelon clamburger is looking in perhaps we have another WW111 on the horizon and then the happy clappy night owls will certainly be needing another thread to go chit chat and natter in.
9 Mar 2009, 21:40 pm
Looks like everybody is all gnashed out, no more fight left in the worn out ideology anxiousness
perhaps we just have a nice chit chat peaceful night of it after all.
9 Mar 2009, 21:41 pm
#817 yliad: Perhaps you guys should all go read the posts.
these guys said that what happened on Robben island and people being imprisoned there was like being at a resort. Then they said the difference being that after 27 years of torture, the people, specifically mandela, is still alive, so it was not so bad.
The just of it, from how I read it, was that to St Petersbergbok and HJK, believed that apartheid and its atrocities were not so bad at all, and St Petersbergbok even had the audacity to say that without Apartheid, SA would not be the country it is today. He said Apartheid ensured infrastructure because of the cheap labour available.
My retaliation was to say, if what was done, all the cruelties, to the two of them. One who said he is 25 years old. would he like it, if whether they would be able to preach forgiveness when they were set free as old men.
See all of you say I must let it go. None of you are talking about the fact that they made a joke out of something in our history that we as South African’s still battle to overcome today, a big fat joke.
How do I move on, and heal, when 25 year olds can call the oppression of the past, NOT SO SERIOUS, because, and I quote ” at least you still alive…”.
That to me, is sick and perverse.
9 Mar 2009, 21:42 pm
#860 alf:
alf wat dink jy van die bulle, naalbytende einde op saterdag?
#862 yliad:
not likely, got to catch train. lol, who is the watermelon i thought he did quite impersonation of you?
ja i feel a bit bad for the night owls and all.
where is all this goodwill when young luke watson drafs op die veld.
waddefok is op met daai perd?
9 Mar 2009, 21:45 pm
Lydia – do you reckon the Stormers have any chance at all against the Lions this weekend?
9 Mar 2009, 21:47 pm
#864 hater:
in fairness, HjK and StP are invariably polite in voicing their opinions.
9 Mar 2009, 21:47 pm
What happened to this being a rugby blog?!
9 Mar 2009, 21:49 pm
This thread was filled with sick bile. One always has hope that the younger generations of this country will get it right, its disheartening to read that they are probably more evil than the people in the past.
It’s painful to know that what has passed in this country has not taught some people anything. From both sides of the fence.
I’m off to bed. I cannot believe you guys are preaching to me, in light of what was said. Just a sign of the times I suppose.
9 Mar 2009, 21:50 pm
#868 I wanna be coach:
if you look on the home page, there are about 10 threads on rugby, yet this is the one ppl choose to comment on.
800-odd comments on ppl bitching about politics in rugby on a politial thread.
LOL
9 Mar 2009, 21:50 pm
Ag bliksem en dit gaan nog steeds aan. Ons huil nou al vir die gevalle helde van die ”struggle” Gaan dit nooit einde kry nie.
Ag shame, I am so sorry for all the pain and heartache caused with the pasboek, aandklok reel, Nasionale Diensplig, Riot Control, Hetor whatshisface, Doc Craven, Bliksem, Rugby, sonskyn en braaivleis. Please, please forgive us.
There, I have apologised. Hopefully it will be a thing of the past now. Let’s get on with life.
9 Mar 2009, 21:51 pm
“Watson, like many of his fictional heroes in the Bible”
What do you mean by fictional Keo? Who exactly are you referring to? Get your facts right before you psoting your ****.
9 Mar 2009, 21:53 pm
ok lets get on with life, op watter stadium kry Luke die volgende boo boo?
9 Mar 2009, 21:53 pm
#865 cab:
the watermelon man is my old doos adversary awol exhile east cape big bok whatever who thinks Jake the snake is next to god, and Luke the puke is Judas Iscariot himself
so we check the plot of the play from very different angles and he reckons his version is kosher and mine is just a f’ckadilly foo foo blinkered lefty smoked out drug crazed doos version.
well the beauty of reality is it usually comes around sometime or other and smacks you in the face, his poorly aligned prejudices will take awhile still to get around that smokescreen, and then maybe they might never do at all.
9 Mar 2009, 21:54 pm
#865 cab: Ja, die Stormers kon nog gewen het daar op die einde … en dan sou die Bulle se nuwe senter, Matfield, homself hard op die gat geskop het, vir daardie sekere drie wat hy weggegooi het.
Nie ‘n mooi wedstryd nie, maar die Bulle het die nodige 4 punte gevat … look at the scorebord !
9 Mar 2009, 21:55 pm
“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.”
More **** by Keo, hey listen up Watson is just as physical if not more physical than Spies – fact!
9 Mar 2009, 21:55 pm
#874 cab:
Saterdag. Ek dink die Gautengers haat hom soveel soos die Noord Gautengers. Deesdae is daar mos meer van hulle as bergbokke in die Kaap
9 Mar 2009, 21:56 pm
#867 cab: Polite pshycopaths.(sp) New concept.
9 Mar 2009, 21:58 pm
I wish that players would not make religion cheap by thanking the Lord every time they scored a try or achieved something.
As far as I know the Lord never participated in any sport
during his time here on earth and I am pretty sure he does not
know offside from onside.It is a well known fact that every
Springbok makes a pledge to honour the jersey and not to
downgrade it by word or deed.So why did Watson not refuse
to play for the Boks if he finds the Springbok jersey and its
history so repulsive that he wants to vomit on it?
9 Mar 2009, 21:59 pm
#874 yliad:
i see, well i think jake was a good coach, but as for white and watson’s characters, probably neither deserve the big send-off. am just thrilled to see all the happiness around, by why are these happy folk still doing the boo boo?
#875 alf:
lol, a bulls fan with a sense of humour.
ja nee die buls sal hard wees om te klop hierde jaar, kan dalk twee bekers wees, maar laat ons sien hoe hulle toer.
9 Mar 2009, 22:02 pm
#877 Xkreni-WP:
ja dink jy ook die gautengers gaan oor die bulle hardloop?
en wat die hel gaan aan met joost, ek kyk op rapport, maar sien net onderbrook en gate (tannie sin), is dit hom of hoe??
9 Mar 2009, 22:02 pm
“Watson, like many of his fictional heroes in the Bible”
Keo, please keep your religious views to yourself and show respect at the views and beliefs of others. We have enough racist rubbish on this site and we don’t need to resort to religious arguments.
If you would dare to spend more time with God you might just find that those Bible heroes weren’t fictional at all!
9 Mar 2009, 22:03 pm
“it was Watson who seemed to intimidate the near 50 000 voices by simply accepting their challenge of continued booing”
again Keo there were thousands of WPian’s in the crowd and many of them were directing their Boooo’s towards the Bully boys and their booooing fans – get it.
9 Mar 2009, 22:04 pm
Some people are polite and respectful when they post. Others look incite hatred and racial prejudices and to antagonise by expressing a desire for SA teams to lose or for Aussie bowlers to injure SA players.
I do not feel a jot of sympathy when it comes back to bite the latter category in the arse and they start crying.
9 Mar 2009, 22:04 pm
Well I am glad I come in late on this one.
Spooner – Lions can beat Stompies. All depends on #10.
9 Mar 2009, 22:05 pm
#884 spooner: Seems to flow both ways Woody.
9 Mar 2009, 22:09 pm
#881 cab:
Hi,
U still here. I must say your stamina is impressive – quite a few nice posts as well!
#885 SodaJoe:
Hey Joe,
I noticed you have opened a small gap on me at Superbru at the back of the field. It is the flippin Sharks that keep on dropping me by not losing
9 Mar 2009, 22:09 pm
I will say this. Rocket, Ruan, Steyn,Adi, JPP, Terblanche really look the business.
9 Mar 2009, 22:09 pm
#879 Brentie1: We still don’t know what Luke really said and him vomit story was also taken way out of context. Luke is being crucified because of the stand that his family took in the apartheid era. Even though I support the stand they took, they should also be careful of becoming self-righteous.
9 Mar 2009, 22:10 pm
#884 spooner: It fuels the fire my friend. It just fuels the fire. And you have never felt sorry for me, so safe your false sentiment. You should know that I only get angry, I never cry.
Good Luck to the Aussies tomorrow. I love them with renewed passion after today’s read of what South Africa’s sports fans had to say.
9 Mar 2009, 22:10 pm
#887 Robzim: I gave up on the Cheaters and started to worm my way up the field to mid-table.
Stompies Vs Leeus – good game coming up. Could go either way.
9 Mar 2009, 22:11 pm
no-one deserves this kind of victimisation.
this guy has shown tremendous courage and seems to perform better the higher the stakes.
9 Mar 2009, 22:11 pm
#869 hater: no need to be exasperated, that is exactly what they wanted to achieve, some of these ***-wipes wouldn’t have the conviction to spew the bile the type on this blog face to face…if you get ”disheartened” you play right into their hands, they’re nothing but a dying breed…
keo wrote a sensationalist article, full of conjencture – fictional heroes worshiped by luke, faith of the loftus crowd – to rile up south africans on both side of the fence, i bet mninawa ntloko or peter bruce had a chuckle with him when he submitted it to them…and lo & behold we got new wanna-be bigot wagging their tails clamouring for notoriety…come on hater, see them for what they really are. This country will have a future, whether bleak or bright, with or without them…
You must have realised the self appointed gatekeepers keep quiet when their ”decent” site is desecrated (sp) by bigoted individuals…this is keo.co.za
9 Mar 2009, 22:14 pm
#892 cab: I’ll say this for the man, and he is a man, although still young. He’s courageous.
A very good rugby player, good enough to be a Springbok, maybe not an all time great, or even right now the best in a crowded pool of SA loosie talent. But he will not disgrace the jersey.
At 24 I do believe I was a bigger doos than Luke Watson.
We need to get over ourselves.
9 Mar 2009, 22:14 pm
#890 hater: If you love Aussie cricket so much then maybe you should find an aussie cricket thread to spend all your time on. Maybe you will find Aussies more welcoming of your aggro character.
Peace.
9 Mar 2009, 22:15 pm
#887 Robzim:
hello Rob, see skoppie mentioned your namesake in that song he sings about farting. some of the stuff is starting to grow on me actually, i dunno about some of the superlatives you okes use but there might be something there, the ear pain is at least subsiding.
9 Mar 2009, 22:15 pm
One thing is for certain, Keo blows with the wind. Everything has an agenda when he writes.
9 Mar 2009, 22:16 pm
#893 Transformation: It’s will take a miracle to break my spirit. You know that. I’m already refueling my arsenal.
9 Mar 2009, 22:16 pm
#891 SodaJoe:
Stormers cannot afford to lose – pressure will be really on them and Rassie to perform. The crowd, press etc are getting impatient and one can sense that it beginning to work on Rassie. Maybe the upcoming overseas tour will be good for them in order to get away from the pressure.
9 Mar 2009, 22:17 pm
It is looking a bit more “normal” here now!! Heheheh
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