Going out on a high
Final blog here folks and I’m delighted to say that the final few days were great fun.
The night before the game we had a relatively quiet night. Others had no such plans. We were in a bar in Sandton having a few drinks when we bumped into another group of fans. They were by far and away the wildest bunch I’ve met on my trip.
Among their exploits that night was challenging a group of locals to a dance off. When it became apparent that they were losing, one of them took all of his clothes off and crawled around the circle while the others poured beer on him. It’s called the cow and it took touring to a new level, a step too far for most.
Match day started quietly until I got a call from the Welsh lads at midday. They had crashed a corporate do and had managed to get me an invitation for it too.
I arrived to quite a scene. The Welsh really stood out from the crowd, dressed as the Lions 70’s team and were sporting moustaches, wigs, head bands, classic jerseys and shorts. I was feeling quite the poor relation in my ’09 jersey.
They had managed to get us on one of the corporate buses to the game too which was a great effort. A big thank you must also go to the guys from Utax (below) who ferried us to the match and back and fed us beer and the local staple of biltong, a kind of preserved dry meat. Atypically for South Africans as they were also gracious losers.
Photo
As for the match itself, it was a great reward for those of us who hung on for the last game which was admittedly a bit of a dead rubber. None who were at Ellis Park would have believed that though and the locals were very sore to lose this one.
There were some great performances and some South Africans believed that if Shane Williams had played in all three tests we would have won the series.
There was a feeling of disappointment at the end as this series must be seen as the one that got away. We won on aggregate 74-63, four out of the six halves and scored more tries, all irrelevant as the Springboks got the cup. It was pointed out that there is also a lot of symmetry with twelve years ago.
As the Utax guys had been so good to us on the way over we didn’t rub it in their noses, too much. Their compatriots had less restraint, some of whom had claimed prior to the game that the team for the third test was a stronger team than the previous games.
Celebrations were more heartfelt this time, even more so given it was the official end of tour. Many phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged and groundless promises to meet again in four years for more of the same.
We also managed to get a photo with Lions legend Gareth Edwards to cap off the Lions experience. Surprisingly the Sky Sports lads made it out, again. It was a great night to cap it all off, possibly the best of the trip.
The last day over here in South Africa was spent taking a tour of Jo’burg and the township of Soweto. It was fascinating and grounding to spend some time seeing the conditions that some people live in here.
There are mixed emotions now that the Lions tour is over. Five and a half weeks is a long time to spend following a rugby team but the banter and camaraderie will be enormously missed. It will be strange not to see a multitude of men wearing red.
With the ending of the tour comes the ending of my blog, again with mixed emotions. It’s been great to be here for the whole tour and meeting with fans of both camps.
As for me, I’m off to Australia for a month and then New Zealand doing research for my new job of managing a winery in Argentina. Watch out for El Comandante wines! I won’t be back until next year so I won’t be catching up with friends and family so until then; thanks for reading and toodle pip!
