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, 16:17 pm
#394 Dawn: LOL.
9 Mar 2009, 16:17 pm
#391 pommie:
Listen, you upper lip stiffer than a saudi jail sentence ….
Stop looking for a fight.
Are you in the UK, a genuine pommie?
9 Mar 2009, 16:17 pm
#313 hater: Context, Hater: Craven was simply stating the obvious under the system that he had to work in. He also ensured that unity was achieved quickly after Mandela was released. I’m sure if you go and read some of Mandela’s earlier stuff he’ll look like a Julius Malema wannabe. Instead, he turned into the saviour of SA.
9 Mar 2009, 16:18 pm
#385 Puma:
AB en Kallis byt mooi vas. Dit sal wonderlik wees as hulle n gelykop uitslag kan afdwing. Maar in werklikheid kort hulle omtrent ne 4 paaltjies met GS uit en die stert verloor gewoonlik al hulle paaltjies vir 10 lopies.
9 Mar 2009, 16:18 pm
#395 ashley:
I am good Ash, thank you.
Trying hard to stay away from politics!!
9 Mar 2009, 16:18 pm
#396 Dawn: Strut your stuff sexy mamma.
9 Mar 2009, 16:18 pm
#400 THE MAULER: Cheers Mauler.
9 Mar 2009, 16:19 pm
And for the record, I currently want to vomit on the Stormers jersey for all the sickening **** they are dishing up at the moment.
9 Mar 2009, 16:19 pm
I wish some of you Luke supporters could answer my question, post 356, seeing as though Hater cant or wont.
I really want to like Luke, he’s a good player, but I cant help feel that he cares less about the ’cause’ he is fighting for and more about his own well being and image he is trying to portray.
9 Mar 2009, 16:19 pm
#393 Supa Die Bloubul: LOL, Supa die ********!!
9 Mar 2009, 16:20 pm
#378 Isigidi:
Thats my point, where is the real truth, certainly everyone taints it all to suit their own agenda.
I was with 4 SAI for Modular/Hooper.
Where were you?
9 Mar 2009, 16:20 pm
Mind you the Saders’ new strip is so damn ugly I won’t be surprised if people gets sick just looking at it…
9 Mar 2009, 16:21 pm
Bunch of rightwing Dutchmen.
9 Mar 2009, 16:21 pm
And with that I am really out…
Cheers all.
9 Mar 2009, 16:21 pm
#404 Dawn: Ek is ‘n Duthman. My lippe is los, moenie jou bekommer nie.
9 Mar 2009, 16:22 pm
#410 KingPaul: Nee, Supa die spies loving bloubul ********!
9 Mar 2009, 16:22 pm
#404 Supa Die Bloubul: 199/2 It would be awesome if we made a draw out of this. Going to be tough though. Its very hot out there.
Just hope we make them field for a very long time before we are out. They looking a bit tired now.
The only think we face the new ball in the morning. Pity Smith has a broken finger again. Damn.
Another 12 overs left for today. Hope these two stay in until tomorrow morning to face the new ball.
9 Mar 2009, 16:22 pm
#410 KingPaul:
Klink nie te bad nie!!
9 Mar 2009, 16:23 pm
CAB thanks for that, Im so proud to hear Churchill is a South African. Dont think I will ever forgive my history teacher for telling me he was from England.
All these retards on this site who cant get over themselves and the past are a clear example of what is wrong with our sport and society.
Get over yourselves.
Rugby people, rugby!!!!
9 Mar 2009, 16:23 pm
#417 Puma: think = thing
9 Mar 2009, 16:23 pm
#408 PissAnt: hehehehe, ek kan aan erger goed dink wat ek met die Stormer jersey wil doen, maar kots virseker een van hulle…
9 Mar 2009, 16:23 pm
#399 savethespringbok:
Yeah I guess. But acting like an idiot to make a point seems a bit stupid. Anyways, I’m English and have a few great Afrikaans friends. They call me soutie and rooinek and I call them dutchmen occasionally. No harm done, so why the comments in the first place and the “backlash” thereafter nobody knows. Ppl shouldn’t take themselves so seriously
9 Mar 2009, 16:24 pm
#414 PissAnt: Cheers have a good one, agree with you on the Stormers and Crusaders jersey. Tough times
9 Mar 2009, 16:24 pm
Cricket is shaping quite nicely at the moment. 200/2..
9 Mar 2009, 16:24 pm
#416 Isigidi:
Beter as Isigidi die Luke loving dutchmen
9 Mar 2009, 16:25 pm
#316 cab: Helen Suzman? Helen Zille (look up her record – she was the journo who exposed the whol Biko affair), van Zijl Slabbert, Vause Raw (sp?) Beyers Naude, Ruth First…
9 Mar 2009, 16:25 pm
#371 Corndog: lol, was just a light hearted dig mate, dont take it so personal
9 Mar 2009, 16:26 pm
Sien GS gaan alweer more met n gebreekte hand moet kolf….
9 Mar 2009, 16:27 pm
#411 Stawm: Infantary 10 Oshakati, ook 70 Katima later.
9 Mar 2009, 16:27 pm
#424 pommie: Yes we need to keep them fielding for a long time tomorrow. Even if they win this they will feel tired after bowling the whole day in that heat.
Then if these two can stay in we could make a draw out of this. Once one of them go we only really have JP that can bat. The others just add a bit. Even Boucher not batting well at the moment.
Another 10 overs left for today. Just bat boys bat. They looking tired those bowlers already. The humidity gets worse as the day wears on.
9 Mar 2009, 16:29 pm
#425 Supa Die Bloubul: Wie’t gese ek’s ‘n ********? Ek soek jou, ek moer jou! hehehehe
9 Mar 2009, 16:29 pm
#356 Biggles: Luke is not complaining about anything, he was merely stating the obvious truth about rugby in SA,quiet obvious many afrikaaners are not happy with this fact being spoken about.
9 Mar 2009, 16:29 pm
#428 Supa Die Bloubul: Ons is lekker in die k@k! kan nie glo die ouens se wiele het so afgeval nie. Ons boulers sukkel om paaltjis te kry, en Johnson boel ons dat die bene klap en die bloed vloei!!
9 Mar 2009, 16:30 pm
#427 poppa69: Mine as well , just don’t know how to make a smiley face……
9 Mar 2009, 16:31 pm
Bliksem maar ‘n klomp vrouens gaan vanaand gebliksem word, lyk dit my.
So much hate, so much vengeance…is there no more forgiveness in our hearts?
Draai die ander wang, broers en susters – haal eers die balk uit jou eie oog voordat jy die splinter in die ander se oog raaksien. Onthou, broers en susters, sonder liefde is ons niks – ons moet liefde betoon aan ons naastes. En Luke is ons naaste, broers en susters. Kom ons vergewe hom tog, want hy weet nie wat hy doen nie!
9 Mar 2009, 16:31 pm
#430 Puma: Cricket 101 for Ausie dummies: Do NOT drop Kallis on single digits.
9 Mar 2009, 16:32 pm
#417 Puma: If AB and Kallis are there tomorrow morning, I will believe….
9 Mar 2009, 16:32 pm
When faced with a tough decision I just ask myself:
‘What would Luke do’
9 Mar 2009, 16:32 pm
#323 Ig: Well, the k-word means “unbeliever” in Arabic. Most of us around here qualify, but it’s also a no-no… Ditto the word “Bantu” which in reality refers to a language grouping, but for some reason it is deemed offensive in SA. Both of these words are offensive to the extreme but refer in some way to a person’s background. Accept then, that “********” carries the same weight for a proud Afrikaner.
9 Mar 2009, 16:33 pm
Anyway I am out. Thanks for the chats and the entertainment.
9 Mar 2009, 16:33 pm
READ THIS CAREFULLY
South African supporters are a disgrace…As boring as their rugby product may be(compared to the S14 and Currie Cup) when you attend a 6 nations game in Scotland,Wales,Ireland and England…you can hear a pin drop when a penalty at posts is being made(Italy and France do not fall into same category and are similar to our hooligans)
Such is the respect and educated level of the supporter.
At rugby game in Sa -even the professional man becomes a white collar worker for the 2 or so hours he is in the stadium!
SAD-VERY SAD
9 Mar 2009, 16:34 pm
#433 KingPaul: Ons hoop maar die Sormer en die Bloubul kan die kastaaiings uit die vuur krap.
9 Mar 2009, 16:34 pm
#432 Puma: Man oh man if we can end the day with 8 wickets (effectively 7) in hand and needing 300 to win I reckon we’ll have a good go at it tomorrow. There’s no point in hanging around blocking everything. Controlled scoring at just over 3 an over will get us there.
9 Mar 2009, 16:35 pm
#433 KingPaul: Ja, KingPaul Maybe Steyn should have been bowling at their heads and hands too. Just hoping these two make them bowl most of tomorrow in that heat and humidity. They looking tired already.
NM should be dropped. Need a opener. Now with GS out injured it will be difficult to draw this. So Prince need to come back for the Newlands test or Johan Botha. Botha can bowl and bat. So thats a plus.
9 Mar 2009, 16:35 pm
#431 Isigidi:
Ek het jou al gesien. Kan onthou omdat jy so abnormaal lelik was! hehehehehe
Joke net Isi…jy is nie so erg lelik nie…
#433 KingPaul:
Ja, die manne neuk vieslik op hier op tuisbodem. Hulle het vinnig gesak van hero to zero.
9 Mar 2009, 16:36 pm
#443 GARY H: Why is that sad? Just part of the game. You seem to be quite uptight.
9 Mar 2009, 16:36 pm
I jus t want to know “who” these ******** is Luke are talking about. last time I checked all the Bok coaches, from O’19 to the Bokke were people of colour. Or maybe Peter de Villiers is also a ******** if you belief Ig’s definition of a ********. And most of the guys on the President’s counsil are people of colour. And who does Luke want to run rugby in South Africa??
9 Mar 2009, 16:37 pm
#443 pommie: It could but we don’t bat far down after JP then the others just get a few. So think we will have to try and stick it out for a draw.
The heat and humidity looks to be getting to the bowlers at the moment. Looking tired. Just that the new ball comes tomorrow morning. We need these two to stay in until then.
9 Mar 2009, 16:37 pm
Why doesnt Smith just come in and bat again?
he’s been there and got the T-Shirt – so do it again!
9 Mar 2009, 16:38 pm
#352 XhosaKid: Why not? There are lots of parallels. Discrimination, crime, injustice… it’s all there.
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