Roll on 2023 and the Rugby World Cup

DRAT those Aussies! There we were going through the painful psychological and moral contortions of supporting them against New Zealand, when they let us down. They allowed the All Blacks to pile up such a score that any chance of the Boks overtaking them in the Rugby Championship in defeating Argentina on points scored got into the realm of rocket science.

It removed from our match against Argentina an extra element of excitement. And indeed, at a point in the second half it looked as though the Boks were figuratively up sewage creek in a barbed-wire canoe, with two fellows in the sin-bin and the Argies flying at us like demons as the lead narrowed.

But recover we did, and some, which bodes well for next year’s World Cup in France.

King’s Park was jam-packed and exuded an atmosphere of wonderful enthusiasm and support for the Boks from every segment of our plural society. That’s rugby for you!

Roll on 2023 and the World Cup! Flying cheetahs

CHEETAHS have flown into India. No, these are not the Flying Cheetahs (No. 2 Squadron, South African Air Force), who went to Korea in the 1950s as part of a United Nations force against the North Koreans – and served with great distinction.

These are eight cat variety cheetahs that were flown in from Namibia recently, an advance group in a campaign to restock India, where cheetahs went extinct in 1952.

Twenty more will follow, flown in from South Africa and others from Namibia, according to the London Guardian.

They will undergo a month-long quarantine before being released into Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh state, in central India.

This is the first time large carnivores have been moved from one continent to another, to be reintroduced to the wild.

But the antelope and wild boars of Kuno can relax. It’s the balance of nature, these cheetahs are not flying Mustangs equipped with machineguns.

Kittycat

A CAT went missing in the US two weeks after her household moved from Long Island, New York, to another home at Mastic Beach.

Owner Stefanie Whitley knew that eight-year-old Lily loved the outdoors and exploring. But after she’d been away for four days she worried, according to the Huffington Post, because she might not have the same attachment to her new home.

Then one evening Stefanie and her family were watching TV when a Ring Doorbell notification appeared on-screen, telling them Lily was there on the doorstep, pawing at the front doorbell. And sure enough, there she was. P-r-r-r-r-r!

Tailpiece

TWO Tongans, two Fijians, and a Samoan walk into a bar.

Barman: “Well done, lads, on your selection for the All Blacks 2023 Rugby World Cup squad!”

Last word

A FACT is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective. | EDWARD TELLER