COMMENT
SA Rugby probably won’t admit it, but they would have sighed in relief after Joburg came out en masse on Saturday night to watch the Springboks against England.
The week-long concern was that the governing body had priced out their most precious commodity – the fans – and there seemed to be a rapid de-escalation during the week regarding ticket prices.
Originally, tickets were as high as R1 350, but by Friday, that had decreased significantly. It seemed to reinvigorate the support base, who crammed into the fabled cathedral of rugby to watch the Boks eviscerate the English 45-21 in a powerful, albeit at times unpolished, display.
Those concerns were quickly forgotten by the heaving crowd within the stadium bowl as the Boks finished their business with brutal efficiency, putting the visitors to the sword.
Outside the stadium perimeter, the Ellis Park faithful did what any self-respecting Joburgers would do: they weathered the cold with a cold one in hand. Shades of bottle green dominated the scene as the sun set beyond the Ponte Tower. A peppering of salt-flavoured English shirts added a bit of flavour.
A band cracked on in the Castle corner, jamming to strobe lights and the hues of the Highveld sunset behind them, while revellers snarfed down boerie rolls, dancing, singing, and drinking.
Down at another tent, supporters kicked at virtual poles, while on the other side a bucking bronco invited all shapes and sizes to hold onto a massive mechanical rugby ball for as long as possible… the failure rate was hilariously high.
Despite concerns regarding fluctuating oil prices, weather, and geopolitical instability, life around the park was as normal as a two-metre-tall, Hulk-dressed Boks fan could be. Elsewhere, a green-painted fan stumbled toward the gate wearing only shorts, the nip in the air peaked on his chest.
Inside the stadium, there was a much more testing atmosphere, especially after the first quarter of the match. The Boks had started with ferocious intent to take an early 17-0 lead. But a determined England fought back to shift momentum their way for a solid 25 minutes.
They found themselves three points behind at half-time, having clawed their way back after some hard graft.
Cue more drinks and furrowed brows. A close game seemed to be on the cards. That fear evaporated as the second stanza continued.
Despite that worrisome period in the first half, the frivolity of the evening could not be denied. Supporters’ hips shifted this way and that to Mango Groove, and they revelled in an early second-half try by Grant Williams, which re-established a sense of dominance.
One of the other narratives this past week has been how South Africans would react to the controversial Henry Pollock, named on the bench for this encounter. There was a brief taste of what was to come when Guy Pepper, who from the stands might have a passing resemblance to Pollock, came onto the field.
They jeered him for a moment before realising their error.
When Pollock did finally come on for George Martin in the 60th minute, he was roundly welcomed with a chorus of catcalls and hisses. His first touch moments later elicited a similar response. For the record, substitute prop Zachary Porthen was the first Bok to tackle the 21-year-old, much to the delight of the crowd – all 52 790 of them.
Pollock did little to change the fortunes of his team, and Ellis Park quickly forgot about him.
That number – 52 790 out of 62 000 – was a far cry from the distressing 21 000 reported early in the week, and what lessons SA Rugby will take from that experience remains to be seen. Regardless, SA fans left Doornfontein a pleased bunch.
