Moonlight’s historic win will shine on
Sotho villagers surely proud of their Border champions
The landscape in Border Rugby has been changing in the last couple of years. Teams like Moonlight have reinvigorated that fact and proven that greatness is not an event, it is a journey.
It was click, click, bang, bang as Moonlight mopped the floor with every single opponent this season, making it a perfect 11 matches win ratio to be crowned the Border Premier League champions.
This after beating United Brothers 6-3 to earn the rights to be promoted to the Border Super League.
It is true what they say that history has no blank pages. Moonlight bear testament to that and have written their own little piece of history in the books of Border Rugby.
A dream has finally come to reality for president Nkululeko Nyangiwe, his executive, the players and all the legends who have come before them, who laid a solid foundation for the people of Mooiplaas.
Sotho Village can be proud of the efforts and achievements of this team. It was not a matter of luck, but through sheer determination and the will to succeed. Luck does not win you 11 matches in your first season, you must create your own luck to succeed.
In a league where there are four former Super League teams (Africans, Winter Rose, Cambridge and Ocean
Sweepers) it takes guts to come out on top. It is a tough place to play your rugby, and all the teams can attest to that.
It is not a place for the fainthearted and it is never easy to gain promotion back to the Super League. And to do it with an unbeaten run, absolutely classy, magic from Moonlight.
Real-life events have inspired many people over the years. What makes stories inspiring, sporting stories great? It is character, it is based on truths. Because sport stories are so innately inspirational, many continue to live on.
The story of Moonlight is a story of hope, a story of truths, a story that will elevate the conundrum that teams from the rural areas are surplus to requirements.
It will shut down the stigma that Border Rugby belongs to those in the urban areas. It will level the playing fields, change the mindset and inspire more players to play for their “home” teams instead of being lured by the so-called “bigger clubs” in and around the East London area.
Greatness is not marked by where you come from, what type of ground you play on or the brand of your playing kit.
Greatness is how you react when thrown into the jungle, when thrown into the deep end and you masterfully react with aplomb, with the kind of zest and aura champion teams carry.
A miracle describes the true story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, a band of underdogs, who rose to defeat the seemingly invincible Russian squad.
Moonlight have created a little bit of a miracle for the Greater Kei region, the people of Mooiplaas and the community of Sotho Village.
The players have written their names in the books of glory, the books of firsts.
Border Rugby must do the honourable thing and hand Moonlight the golden baton as the wild card entry to the EC Super 14 competition – it is not a favour, they have earned it.