Rugby is the sort of sport that once it goes in your bloodstream it stays there forever.
It’s not a temporary “drug” that will disappear if you wait a few days before going for a blood sample.
Punch a needle and fill it with the life of every single fan of whatever club, province, franchise or country he or she supports and you’ll have a sample of the team’s colour they support.
South Africans are die-hard fans.
We see it across the board – it’s a “sickness” that doesn’t bother about race, religion, or anything.
And I get that once you belong to a “family” you will support that family with all your heart.
We see it at school games as well when parents go ballistic if their son didn’t make this team or that team or the ref blew him up for the wrong reason or whatever.
We all know how we get when things don’t go the way of our teams.
A few months ago, the guys at Western Province sent out a message to all club officials saying they are experiencing an “increase in various offences in matches in all leagues”.
The abuse of referees was highlighted as a big concern.
Now I want to remind all club fans that when you come out to “support” your team, you are an extension of the team on the field.
If you misbehave, opposition fans will not respect the club no matter how good your team plays.
And usually it’s just one or two guys that misbehave that spoils the day for others.
Anyway, that was just my bit from a club fan to all out there.
Back to on-field business and a big shoutout to the guys at Tygerberg Rugby Club for their wildcard entry into this season’s Gold Cup.
The Tiere have been included along with Border-based Swallows.
I’m pretty sure the guys in Milnerton will feel their club could also have been invited after punching above their weight this season.
Just like Brackenfell last year, UniMil have proven that coming up from Super League B doesn’t always mean you will be the whipping boys of the top league.
In fact, they beat a strong Tiere side last weekend (37-8) to celebrate one of the most famous UniMil wins in recent years.
Coming off that high, they will be looking to produce the goods at Danie Craven Stadium again this weekend. It’s there where they will face Victorians. The students from Stellenbosch, though, are in no mood to play around.
Last weekend they smashed Pniel Villagers 94-3, while their first team, Maties, were even better in their 109-7 humiliation of Belhar.
I’m sure that Maties – now fully in the swing of things after a late start to the season – tried to equal or better that when they faced Pniel Villagers in Stellenbosch last night.
This week sees a number of games played at different venues, so go out there and support your club.
PS: do it like you wear the badge on your heart, just like the players do...
Super League A
Team P W L D BP Pts
False Bay 12 10 1 1 352 53
Hamiltons 12 9 2 1 307 48
Durbell 12 8 4 0 120 41
Stellenbosch 8 8 0 0 367 39
Tygerberg 11 7 4 0 116 37
UCT 11 7 4 0 -1 35
UniMil 10 6 4 0 -8 31
Belhar 12 5 7 0 -147 25
Victorians 9 4 5 0 63 24
UWC 9 4 5 0 -38 23
Brackenfell 10 4 6 0 -38 21
SK Walmers 10 3 7 0 -175 17
Ntk 11 2 9 0 -203 12
Primrose 10 1 9 0 -212 7
Pniel Villagers 11 0 11 0 -503 1
SLA fixtures
Vics v UniMil
Tygerberg v Primrose
Walmers v Villagers
Durbell v Maties
Brackenfell v False Bay
Belhar v UWC
SLA results
Maties 87 SK Walmers 7
Primrose 7 UWC 31
False Bay 28 Durbell 12
Pniel Villagers 3 Vics 94
Maties 109 Belhar 7
UniMil 37 Tygerberg 8
SK Walmers 12 NTK 15