Tightheads & Loose Balls
● Roodepoort Rugby Club, the one at the centre of a racism allegation that is under investigation by the Golden Lions Rugby Union, has made an appeal to the media in a statement released earlier this week. They would “appreciate it if a more balanced statement or article could be published indicating that it is all hearsay and that as yet no evidence of wrongdoing by Roodepoort players has been proven”.
They claim their own preliminary investigation found no sign of racism. Do they really expect perpetrators (the folks who use the K-word), to wait for the cameras to roll before they engage in their dastardly deeds? The club can begin to plead innocence on Wednesday with proceedings set to be chaired by Boela van der Merwe (a former Transvaal scrumhalf), while district court magistrate Jerome Joseph will lead the prosecution.
● Media centres in rugby stadia around the country all have distinct characters, especially when it comes to catering. At Ellis Park and Loftus you are issued with vouchers to help keep your dietary desires in check; in Bloem you’d be brave to approach the half-time finger food without an accompanying tube of Gaviscon, while the “Tobie Titus platter“at Newlands poses its own colonconvulsing peril. At Kings Park the grub is decent once you get past the overzealous doorman — and if there is any left five minutes after final whistle. The fare there disappears as quickly as if a plague of locusts had breezed through.
● Speaking of food, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander had an interesting turn of phrase when Tightheads asked him about the number of Cheetahs who had been lost to Pro14 franchises in Europe in the last few months. “When the Cheetahs play in Europe it’s like a buffet for the club owners there,” Alexander suggested.
● Boks sponsor MTN has taken fan engagement to a new level with an initiative that will see a social mediasavvy fan travel with the team until after next year’s World Cup. The person will get up close and personal with the team in an activity the mobile network describes as “a job“. Tightheads should really have enquired whether counselling would be provided should the Boks repeat their results of last year.