
Doesn't something like the Rugby World Cup just bring out the best in some people? Like this Wilkinson Sword advert!
There's a massive atmosphere of elation around the country with the reality of having won the Rugby World Cup dawning slowly on all South Africans. Watching the match on Saturday evening threw up all kinds of mixed feelings. Very clear in my mind was the undertones of racism that was floating around as this country still grapples with its own history and the history of this sport locally.
Carlos Amato wrote in the Sunday Times summing it up well:
"Rugby is a crucible of SA's cultural history: a musty refuge for racism and a potentially powerful weapon against it. By ruling the world the Boks have the chance to change this country.
And they’re far more likely to do that if millions of youngsters – not just a couple of hundred thousand — believe they can become a Springbok and are given a real chance to do so."
Whilst
Klippies and Coke is slowly giving way to a greater variety of drinks, I hope that one form of discrimination isn't just being replaced with another. Bryan Habana claims to have been inspired by South Africa's win in 1995 (when he was 12). How many other young South Africans, across all race groups, will be inspired by what the class of 2007 have achieved? If the
politiking is anything to go by black players aren't going to feel too proud about earning this new green jersey. What's the balance going to be between imposing quotas and developing good players of all races? Is there another Jake White ready to coach young South Africans (in the junior teams) to the first team level? Or will we see South African rugby disintegrate in the next four years as the administrators and politicians tear it apart?