First and foremost, congratulations to the Springbok on their comprehensive trouncing of the All Blacks over the weekend.
Secondly, congratulations to Peter de Villiers for guiding the Boks to another convincing win over the All Blacks.
Thirdly, well done to Morne Steyn for his outstanding and powerful performance in single-handedly destroying the opposition.
It is very important that you take cognisance of the order of my praise. I place the team in the first praise because the team, without it, no one can win anything. It is bigger than the sum of its parts, ie the players individually. Making a mistake on this is short-sighted and would lead to failures in future. To all those men who were on the field on Saturday: "WELL DONE!" you did all of us proud. You looked invincible, you played well and you won as a TEAM!
The second praise I heap on Peter de Villiers, the Bok coach. Peter - you have done extremely well for the Boks and for this nation. It might be that you not universally liked by one and all, but your record already speaks volume of your fitness for the job. The fact that you were appointed "not purely for rugby reasons" as Oregan Hoskins pronounced upon your appointment - makes the case for transformation in this country the more relevant and necessary.
Much legislation have been passed in this country to facilitate the access of opportunities to those who were previously disenfranchised, but each day we wake up to more media vitriol on why we are ruining a country by forcing down redress. I say you are doing this government a huge favour by showing them that they are not completely lost in asking for redress and transformation to the highest order. If I were President Zuma, I would immediately order that you receive one of the highest national orders; perhaps the Order of Mapungubwe would be more fitting.
I find it disturbing that we still challenging the necessities of across the board transformation as a country as that is not only counterproductive but myopic as well. Many media releases this past weekend had no quotations from the Bok coach but more from the captain and pictures of the tries by Morne. That is incorrect and needs urgent rectification!
The last praise I place on Morne Steyn - a very good player who scored all the points for us over the weekend. Eight penalties in international rugby is not only impossible but improbable - well done to you Morne. The country needs more progressive and accurate shooters like you. The fact that you are also playing your rugby in South Africa proves that we also have a functional system here, transformation being part of it: WELL DONE!
To South Africans at large: It is time we give credit were it is due. Peter de Villiers, a man of colour, has done well for us a coach. He overcome teams which used to beat us before, has broken a few records in the process but he is not always polished when he needs to be. We cannot despise him for that nor not recognise him due to his colour anymore - let us all rally behind him and his team and make him know that we love him. Amen.
Get published on MyNews24 by sending your letter, story or column to us.
Send us your news photos
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
- News24
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.