Bulls' fan: I'm first in line!
2009-05-24 23:49
Pretoria – Twenty minutes before the final whistle sounded at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, one of the more dedicated Bulls supporters started running to get his hands on a ticket for this Saturday’s Super 14 final.
Robert Terblanche from Pretoria wasn’t even 100% sure that the Bulls would be the victors, but wasted no time taking first place in the queue.
About 300 people were camping out on Sunday afternoon to buy tickets for the final against the Chiefs, which go on sale at 08:00 on Monday.
Terblanche said on Sunday that he and his group of friends had been racing to the ticket office for tickets to the Currie Cup and Super 14 series for the past seven years.
”I’ve been here since 06:00 (on Saturday). I just watch the other people having a merry old time.
My wife says I’m ‘rugbybefok!”
The group of early birds said they would rather have missed a part of the semi-final, “otherwise the queue stretches all the way to the B field”.
More people arrived on Sunday with tents, blankets, wood, and something for the thirst, hoping to hang in there until Monday morning.
Others paid people to stand in the queue for them until Monday, or at even just to pitch their tents.
A normal working day was the farthest thing from the minds of most of these supporters.
Various people in the queue said they had already phoned their employers to tell them they won’t be at work on Monday.
We hope they’re giving out sick notes with the tickets,” said Andries van Aswegen of Vanderbijlpark.
Cornél Heystek, 8, of Ellisras was still refusing to remove the Crusaders players’ autographs from his body on Sunday.
But his father said he would be driving back to Ellisras early on Monday to get his son to school.
De Wet Dreyer, a Tuks student, brought along his study material and calculator to study for a test.
”Luckily I’m only writing at 12:00,” he said.
Asked exactly what Bulls supporters did to stay busy while waiting for a ticket, Van Aswegen answered:
”As long as you don’t sleep. People cut in if you’re asleep.”