Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline blasted through the speakers at the end of Saturday’s north-south derby Super Rugby opener between the Bulls and Stormers.
“Good times never seemed so good.”
Loftus wasn’t even packed - the Pretoria fans probably didn’t expect the good times to come so soon, beating their old foes 40-3.
For the Stormers, a line from Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence probably best-summed things up for them: “Hello darkness my old friend”
And I get a sneaky feeling that it’s a darkness that will not disappear that quickly.
GOOD SIGNING: Bulls' Rosko Speckman scored a brace. Photo: MUZI NTOMBELA/BACKPAGEPIX
Yes, they never travel well and personally I didn’t expect them to beat this Bulls side at Loftus on Saturday.
But the manner in which they lost - conceding four tries and scoring none - should be of grave concern for Stormers coach Robbie Fleck.
Already there are rumours of a mass exodus taking place post-World Cup, meaning next season we will once again hear that the team is rebuilding.
Therefore, this term was supposed to be their big one.
But the Stormers failed to recruit any big names during the off-season, with their second-stringers giving them false hope by beating the Bulls in the SuperHero Sunday pre-season match.
I tip my hat to the Bulls franchise today.
They made the right signings during the off-season, having added Schalk Brits, Duane Vermeulen and Rosko Specman to their player roster.
OUTGUNNED: Duane Vermeulen hits Kobus van Dyk. Photo: MUZI NTOMBELA/BACKPAGEPIX
Experience is key in this competition and having a spine of Brits, captain Lood de Jager, No.8 Vermeulen, Springboks Embrose Papier and Handre Pollard at halfback, a leader in Burger Odendaal in the midfield and a classy fullback in Warrick Gelant make them a dangerous side.
As for the sorry Stormers, they looked like a team that still has a building to do.
That warm-up match at Cape Town Stadium the other day was used by the Bulls to iron out some issues and to get their ducks in a row before they hit the ground running.
It was as if they played shadow rugby in order to hit the ground running when they had to. And hit the ground running they did.
Fleck and his charges return to Newlands this coming weekend where they will host the Lions, who beat the Jaguares away on Saturday night for the first time.
NEXT: Malcolm Marx and the Lions. Photo: BACKPAGEPIX
The Stormers will know that they’ve got lineout issues to sort out - something that was evident in the pre-season match as well - and they look like a team that is in need of direction.
A win at Newlands, though, is a must.
If not, the knives will be out for Fleck once again and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, we might see someone else in charge of the team next year.
It’s still early days in the competition and there is a lot of time for Fleck and his assistants to sort out Saturday’s mess at Loftus.
The problem is, confidence isn’t high at the franchise off the field and their confidence on it has taken a big knock.
Therefore the road to recovery will be a long one both for Fleck, the team and the fans.