BB
The above sdhows how bad he stuation as to rugby is in especially the UK and Australia - whre rugb Leagyue s strong - in most other rugb playing countries Rugby League is a minor or even non-existent.
In most countries there will be resistence against such a merger if Leaue system is limiting the game of Rugby.as it is played at present.
Decades ago after a test in Johannesburg and according to the Pretoria and Johannesburg a drunk spectator was urinating against a wall. saying We Pee against the wall, I will also remembe travelllng by train from Riversdale to Pretoria to start my first job in Prretoria I was met at the station a bloke asked me whether I support WP. That alone tuned me into a WP supporte for llfe/
Anyway a friend and coleague of mine in 1964 nt to the Curry Cup final in Pretoria - he wearing his Matie jersey and me witha Stellenbosch Univercity cap/ We were met witha barrage of tangerines to be expecred from the .Pretoria crowd as traitors/ In the end it was the match in which Jannie Engelbrecht broke his collarbone and stayed on the field of play and scored two tries, The crowd got quieter and quieter/
In new Zealand here was a Maori family whos had a son and called him Jannie Engelbrecht as his first name. When Engelbecht became SA ruby Manager in the early 1990's he visited New Zealand wit the tm and met the family ho clalled thir son Jannie Engelbrecht. Wonde whether the son is still around. I think he would be around 60 years of age by now.
\WP is still playing in the CC series - bu the team s not as strog s expected in the latter part of the 20th century - reason too many f their players are playing for the Stormers and for teh Springbks - thus weakening the WP team.
There were close ties between the Engelbrecht family and my family and the last time I saw him was at the funeral of a cousen of my father in Riversdale in 2009. The cousin was never married and Jannie inherited his farm - a bad move since he let the farmland to neighbouring farmers and a building constructed in 1768 became badly neglected. The person who now owns the farm, Zeekoegat bought the area where that building was and renovated it. and it is now part of the Zeekoegat National Monument buildings with two homes comstructed in 1795 and 1804 and the house that used to be the stables for farm animals and later used a a home constructed in 1768.
The only uprading needed at present is the Saayman graveyard on the farm.where most of the graves were of children, brothrs and suisers as well as his father and mother of Lang Bart Saayman - owner of Zeekogat - and there are also graves of lifelong workers on the farm and in their youth were slaves owned by the owners of Zeekoegat - but later on after freeing as slaves stayed on as farm workers. It would cost circa R200 000 to do he upgarding - but I never seem to have the cash to have it done, .
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