Let's just have a quick look at a few things.....1921. Dunedin, Springboks vs Al Black first test, nz win 15-3 the beginning of two nations rivalry that rages to this very day, 1981 where politics flooded onto the field some people find out the hard and violent way that politics and sport don't mix. Many protesters injured by spectators wanting to watch a test.
up until the start of the professional era SA had won 21 to AB 18, however after the 40 test since professional era AB have won 28 to BOKs 12....that a separate issue in itself, maybe...maybe not.
of the 39 test played in NZ BOK won 9 drawn 2, test in SA, AB win 18 draw 1 to SA 25. Not a lot between the two sides really, points overall SA 1329, AB 1596 Carter holds most points against SA 221 then Mehrtens, then....hello Carlos Spenser 84. For SA, Percy Montgomery 103, Joel Stranskey 54.
I heard something the other day"it took some time but I realized that letting your emotions be controlled by something that is so unpredictable is just ridiculous" we'll spoken, Mr Spock, my wife tells me something similar,it's childish and shallow. When dealing with the outcomes of tests. We try to convince ourselves that it doesn't matter but deep down it kills us. It becomes an obsession and ultimately fruitless quest. For that always out of reach perfection in a decidedly imperfect world. Rugby use to be simple, two teams and a ball. Now we have stats, players meters, missed tackles, handling errors,list goes on and becomes more complicated. We all still look for that authentic victory something perfect, and feel that we have the inside track on something that other people don't know about. There's nothing simple about being tuned into something . Rugby is becoming a complicated undertaking that leads to conflicting and competing desires, wich is my point. Rugby might be simple. But at what cost to us.
