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The root cause of English disapproval with South Africa's Champions Cup entry
One of the major drawbacks to being a South African living in the UK is putting up with people’s interpretations of your accent. No matter your mother tongue, no matter what city you hail from, no matter your education, socioeconomic background or time spent in your adopted land, the drawling, monotoned, heavy-handed modulation is the same.
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“Is that really what we sound like?” You wonder. No Hollywood actor has ever nailed it, if indeed ‘it’ even exists with our 11 official languages spread across 470 658 square miles. No matter the intention of the person aping some reductive version of yourself to you, it’s hard not to feel that the one variable they’re taking aim at is your intelligence.
Maybe that’s just me being a sensitive Saffa. With the country mired in political corruption, unchecked violence, decaying infrastructure and chasmic inequality, perhaps my armour is paper thin and any barb pertaining to my national heritage stings more than it should. Our standing on the global stage dwindles every year and though we hold to the notion that the world is an interconnected village, it can often feel like that bastardised version of our accent is a reminder of our bumpkin status.
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Which is why the Springboks are such a beloved institution. This is why rugby matters. Those green giants leave our shores and return with glittering trophies and a list of vanquished foes. Nothing and no-one else makes South Africans feel like champions like they do.
There are other important threads to the story that inspire hope and offer a kindling of belief that societal change may come. Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi, Chester Williams and Nelson Mandela are key figures in this important branch of rugby’s standing in the country. But their roles in this narrative would be less significant if the Springboks weren’t such a dominant force.
What’s more, they win ugly. This is not champagne rugby. This is rugby fuelled by eye-watering mampoer, a local moonshine that could turn the engine of a 3.0 litre Toyota Hilux. Springbok fans, much like the players, couldn’t care less that the team’s approach is brutal, that their sole ambition is to win, and that other nations might consider them boring. In fact, they revel in how disagreeable the Boks can be. What rankles is that the on-field persona is seen as an extension of the off-field culture that feeds it.
“In life, as in rugby, to ascribe a characteristic to a nation can be deemed at worst as racism, and at best a sweeping generalisation. So it may be harsh to say South Africa lacks leadership, that so often all the power and fury goes to waste because there is nobody to shape it.”
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The above was written by prominent journalist Stephen Jones, a man who has forgotten more about rugby than most people will learn in a lifetime, but who holds views rooted in a bygone age. He was pontificating about the apparent intelligence of the South African-born, but English speaking, Mike Catt who was seemingly primed to take advantage of the dimwitted Springboks. Compare his assertion that South Africans are incapable of creativity or leadership with a bewildering claim from Rider Haggard, author of King Solomon’s Mines, who scribbled this before the Second Anglo-Boer War:
“Now, if there is any country dependent on England that requires the application to the conduct of its affairs of a firm, considered and consistent policy that country is South Africa. Boers and Natives are quite incapable of realising the political necessities of any of our parties, or of understanding why their true interests should be sacrificed in order to minister those necessities.”
See the parallels? British troops killed an estimated 26,370 Afrikaans women and children along with 115,000 black Africans in open air prisons dubbed ‘concentration camps’. Britain’s insatiable appetite for more colonial territory brought untold misery to countless more. Trauma lingers, even across centuries. And though the yoke of oppression has been cast aside, and new horrors have since been meted out on the peoples of South Africa by their fellow countrymen, that pain has not fully subsided.
“The players like scoring points against England,” so said then Springbok coach Jake White when asked why his team opted for a shot at goal, rather than kick for the corner, when awarded a late penalty in a 2007 World Cup match they’d go on to win 36-0. Victories over New Zealand and Australia bring their own joys, and keeping France, Ireland and Wales in their place is satisfactory, but nothing stitches a wicked smile across the face like besting the Poms.
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Which brings us to the news that South African teams will compete in next season’s Champions Cup and Challenge Cup tournaments. Note I didn’t use the word ‘European’ because the introduction of the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks, Lions and Cheetahs means that this grand competition, filled with tradition and historic moments, is no longer defined by its fixed geographical location.
And what is ‘Europe’ anyway? We live in a world divided by borders that were arbitrarily drawn by moustachioed colonialists more than 130 years ago. In carving up Africa, Asia and the Americas, the fallen empires of the self-anointed ‘Old World’ set the table from which we must now eat. Why should a rugby competition founded 27 years ago be so sacrosanct that it is beyond reform?
Those same critics who clutch their pearls at the thought of oafish South Africans knocking over the good china have no qualms about the country’s top talent driving their own teams forward. A South African has featured in every Champions Cup final since 2010. Nine contested the 2014 showpiece with Craig Burden recognised as the player of the match in Toulon’s 23-6 win over Saracens that also involved Bryan Habana, Juan Smith, Bakkies Botha and Schalk Brits. South African born players were included in five of the six squads in the men’s Six Nations this year and the top teams in France and Japan are similarly littered with their compatriots.
The South African rand can’t compete with the strength of the pound, euro or yen. Why shouldn’t this union that has won three of the seven World Cups it entered – a better win percentage than the All Blacks – take control of its own destiny? A malignant power imbalance has consigned Fiji, Tonga and Samoa to second-class status despite those island nations notably contributing to the game’s global talent pool. This is by design. South Africans understand that the world is not fair. Rather than lay prone in the current, South African rugby is creating its own waves.
SA Rugby, the sport’s governing body, recognises the commercial appeal of its product. Like the bruising forwards that constitute its indomitable pack, it is unashamed by its heft. Granted, travelling fans may be non-existent when European based teams travel south, but there are more than 250 000 South Africans living in the UK. If even a fraction are interested in rugby there will be considerable support whenever their teams compete in matches dripping with fresh intrigue.
The Saffas have muscled their way to a table they’ve deemed worthy of their status. Those at the far end can harrumph into the brandy and mimic our accents as much as they like.
Hattip: I got a lot of my info from a Twitter thread from writer Wessel van Rensburg
I don't think you have to to look too hard to find evidence of what Daniel is describing here. From those who describe Bok rugby as boring rugby played by a steroid fueled team on with more brawn than brains or skills to the narrative that South Africa can only perform when they are in a place of desperation. I don't think that acknowledging this is victim hood. What you describe here links pretty well with the psycho-social phenomenon related to power, wealth and status we see every day.
The shift from Super Rugby to the North is an important one. I for one, prefer to have a beer when watching my team play than having coffee because of the Aus/NZ time zones. The dynamics in SANZAAR has always meant that SA got a raw deal even when they brought the bulk of tv viewership. Will NZR and RA miss the physicality of SA teams? Maybe They will definitely miss the Supersport broadcast fees... The jump in URC viewership for 2021/2022 proves that SA teams bring viewership to the competitions they end up joining.
I suspect the old guard might make a lot of noise about the Boks not joining the six nations, with references to travel, logistics and more bullshit about traditions and values of rugby, but money talks and I wont be surprised if it ends up happening.
Daniel, keep your articles coming. The response you read shows the passion Saffa’s have for their country and their team. The latest move for SA sides has really benefitted us, and I am hopeful it will also benefit the British and European leagues. Our absence from Super Rugby is going to slowly erode the strength of the ABs, but the way we were treated with cynical disdain by the NZ teams, public and officials serves them right. The new structure allows Rassie and co to have access and control over their player resources and we can build a strong base now.
"Hie’ Kommie Bokke!" - Bring it on. Quality rugby is a no brainer.
I’ve heard air raid sirens that whine less than the self declared victimhood status this article is overflowing with. This has also become an uncomfortably recognisable pattern among many saffa commenters, that outright refuse to accept that the actions of SARU, as representatives of the nation, can be the cause of what besets their unions & franchises and instead blame NZ, Eng…. anything that allows them to not partake in some cutting introspection.
We love introspectively reviewing games like last nights Leinster/Bulls.
Last time I checked it was the English establishment that were moaning, and this article seeks to unravel why they are complaining. Your exact same words could just as well be directed to the mirror
Self loathing drivel. Hate us and see if we mind
We really don’t when we keep beating the best the Islands have to offer.
other than NZ who have just benefited from the Silver Lakes deal most - if not all - unions are experiencing financial difficulty. Union needs a bigger cake and the biggest ingredient is broadcast revenue - same time zone (including no jet lag) - is a huge plus. There was opposition to France and later Italy joining 4 and 5 nations respectively - look at it now. France took decades to be competitive, as it seems will Italy while Saffa teams will compete from the get go i.e. more entertainment, more eyes, more cash. SA's entry is financial necessity - very little to do with sentiment. Then not uncommon for businesses to clump EU with middle east and Africa, know as EMEA.
It really is all about perception. Yeah, the Afrikaans accent can sound like you’re a bit slow, but the the first heart transplant was done by an Afrikaner in Cape Town. Elon musk was educated by a bunch of Afrikaners. What I’m trying to say is, If someone sounds like an idiot in a second language, try speaking a second language. Many Afrikaans intellectuals will run circles around most, but they can sound strange. Personally I’m proud of my accent and of my country.
"Elon musk was educated by a bunch of Afrikaners"
hardly an endorsement!
As a Leinster fan we are delighted to have the challenge of competing with great South African teams. It will raise standards all around and maybe encourage the Welsh, Scottish and Italians to up their game in the URC. looking forward to the game on Saturday in the RDS against the Bulls with a place in the final at stake.
And we are delighted to be welcomed in Ireland as I have been on numerous occasions when I have visited. The Irish are the most courteous and generous and knowledgable rugby fans anywhere in the world.
This is an interesting insight and a very well written article.
The guys sobbing are the NZ guys, as they will end up playing countless repetitive games between themselves and Aussies, and needed Private Equity money to keep them alive. This article actually justifies our joining and the benefits to come.
Guys, not sure you understood him properly but he actually is singing from your hymn sheet.
Gerald, you are absolutely correct, what had been written by him has been misinterpreted. He is targeting the British (European)rugby establishment and commentators who still has the tendency to leverage old outdated South African memes with the distinct aim to ignite some kind of shame at being South African and therefore not worthy, when the reality is that South African rugby and players have realised their influence and worth on the world stage and are simply taking advantage of their dominance. This article highlights the misanthropic nature of the criticism of "English disapproval with South Africa's Champions Cup entry" and this scares the old guard.
nee jirre man.
Why such a sob story about a game with an egg shape ball? Bringing in politics and the boer war to a discussion about regional rugby competitions? Really?
No-one can take an argument like this seriously and I am sorry to say it is out of place and absolute self pitying drivel.
All you need to say is: South Africa brings the sponsorhip money, tv viewership, talent and quality to the table and it is enough to join a conference in the correct time zone to everyone’s benefit.
People don’t like change, it’s ok… but don’t come asking to join a championship with a victim mentality.
"All you need to say is..."
True, he could just say that, but then he wouldn't have an article to sell.
"but don’t come asking to join a championship with a victim mentality"
Is the author of this article asking to join? What team does he play for?
Well said. He has a real chip on his shoulder.