Lions Tour: A Fan's View »

• Day 2 Rustenburg: First Game Up

  May 31, 2009 @ 3:10 pm | by tlynch

  Leaving Jo’burg early in morning we picked up our campervan, aptly named “Nickthebockersglory”, and drove to rustic Rustenburg for the first game of the tour.

  By the time we’d parked the camper at the campsite we were pressed for time, especially when our taxi failed to show.

  So we broke one of the cardinal rules of travelling in South Africa and hitched a lift to the ground on the back of a pick-up truck which sped off to the remote Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

  After that, the game was always going to somewhat anticlimactic. With the Super 14s final on in Pretoria the locals’ attention was very much elsewhere which made for lots of empty seats. The Royal XV team however didn’t get the message and gave the rusty Lions a real fright.

  The atmosphere was pretty subdued in the stadium with little to cheer about on the pitch and a lack of unifying songs.

  There were some half hearted renditions of the “Flower of Scotland” and “Jerusalem” early on, but when the team got motoring at the end of the match the standard “Lions, Lions” got a fulsome airing.

  After the final whistle we bumped into some friends, took some photos but we still had no idea how to get back into town which was about 5 kilometres away.

  Luckily enough, our favourite pick-up truck driver happened to roll up and we joined seven of his friends on the back of the truck which made for a terrifying cross country journey to a hostel bar where we watched the Blue Bulls hammer the Waikato Chiefs in the S14 final.

  We mixed with fans from all four countries and enjoyed brews that cost less than a euro while the hostel owners decided to capitalise by cooking up some superb steaks and charging us a fiver a head.

  Girlfriends of Lions tourists will be reassured with the knowledge that the bar was mainly full of rugby fans as well as being a haunt for the local lesbian community.

  This generosity and hospitality has so far been shown by all including the barman who later insisted on giving us a lift back to the campsite as he was unsure that we would get a safe taxi.

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• Day 1 Johannesburg: arrival and settling in

  May 29, 2009 @ 5:35 pm | by tlynch

  While the players would not have been able to plan (or even dream) about travelling over to South Africa for the Lions tour before several weeks ago, for myself and fellow tourist Rory this trip is the product of many months of organisation.

  With the initial flights booked as far back as August we even managed some altitude training of our own by drinking in Johnny Fox’s to see how being on the high veldt may affect our performance. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

  My flight went via Heathrow and it was pleasantly surprising to meet so many fellow Lions’ fans on board even with the recession.

  Obviously, while Ian McGeechan has thrown millions at gelling his squad together we dirt trackers have to do it ourselves but while bonding with those who sing different songs won’t be easy right away, it will come with time and this was a start.

  Talk quickly moved on to the squad and the relative strengths and weaknesses. There was a degree of consensus that the injury to Jerry Flannery was the major loss to the team thus far.

  Our plans to stay in a camper van in week one saw some eyebrows raised amongst our British friends. The safety message has definitely been rammed home and everyone seems to be spending as little time in Jo’burg as possible.

  On arriving and having checked in, we decided to avail of what appeared to us to be the fine weather by heading straight to the outdoor pool.

  The sun was out and it closely resembled a fine Irish summer day but of course it’s winter time here and there was some level of consternation in reception when the two Paddies arrived down in swimming trunks looking for towels.

  Tomorrow we pick up the camper van and head for Rustenburg for the match against the Royal XV. The gloss has somewhat been taken off this match with the Southern Hemisphere’s equivalent of the Heineken Cup seeing the Blue Bulls entertaining the Waikato Chiefs in Super 14 final in nearby Pretoria.

  Though it kicks off an hour after the Lions are due to finish their game it is certainly stealing the limelight. With the local focus elsewhere, this should be the perfect opportunity for the Lions, and us fans, to cast off the rust in the old mining town.

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