I always knew this day might come

Well, I am a sportsman obsessed fan. One man, in particular. I do not have to tell regular readers who he is.

However (and isn't there ALWAYS a "however"?), there has been another sportsman just inside my radar for a very long time. The wonderful Tuckers will immediately know who I am talking about. I can still see Jim rolling his eyes as I go "mwah!mwah!mwah!" to the TV screen during the Tri Nations rugby union games.

I do like blond men, but they do not age very well, in my opinion. Case in point being Brad Pitt (who featured very high on my non-sportsman radar for a whole lot of years)and Robert Redford. Maybe it is the hair thing, because those blond men with longer hair tend to look better for longer.

While the Greenie and I lived in that great city of Kimberley in South Africa, we supported the Griekwa rugby team. We have always believed you support locally. (This belief did change when we moved to Australia, I must admit). This particular season the Griquas were doing very well and they were up against the Stormers the next day. Now, I need to explain to the ininitiated that Kimberley gets summer rain and storms. It is high country - literally, albeit very flat. Rugby is played in winter, hence we were looking forward to a thrashing of the Stormers who have played most of their games in the wet - a strong point of theirs, but would not help them much in a bone dry Kimberley with its thin air. We figured they would be stuck, run out of puff and struggle to get around the field. The other thing that put my mind at ease, was the fact that I saw the aforementioned rugby player in the cinema with the Greenie and I enjoying Zorro (the Antonia Banderas version) just about 3 hours before the game. I remember telling the Greenie that he should have been practising his kicks by now if he did not want to let his team down. At that stage, Gaffie du Toit was the kicker for the Griquas and if there was ever a man who peaked too early in his career, it was him.

As we left the cinema, the clouds started to gather. We have not had rain for months! About half an hour later, it was bucketing down. The starved surface of the De Beers stadium turned into a swamp. Barely 20 minutes later, the clouds disappeared as quickly as they appeared and we were left with a glorious day and a sodden rugby field. So, I figured, at least we have Gaffie and their kicker still probably had visions of Catherine Whatshername in his head and that should be a turnoff to any player! Long story short: we got thumped. The Griquas lost the match so far that I have blocked the score from my memory forever. The kicker from the Stormers did not miss a single kick, he even MADE kicks where no-one else could see the opportunity.

Fast forward to the present RWC campaign and the Boks are the only Tri Nations team left standing. There is a Scottish man who works with me in the same building. I know of him, but we have never spoken a word to each other beyond "Hi". This Friday past he cornered me by the colour photocopier and asked whether I was excited about the rugby this weekend. After getting over my shock that he a) spoke to me about rugby (in the world of AFL) and b)knew I was South African, I could just say yes. Later the day, we met again: at the big photocopier that also scans and faxes and stuff. So this time I asked him: what do you think will happen in the rugby final? He says: I don't want them to, but I think the POMS will win. So, with all the knowledge of www.rugbydata.com behind me, I asked what he based his prediction on. So, he said, he thinks they are fired up and of course: Johnny. That was the point when I referred him to my research: the two teams have played each other 29 times over the years. The Republic won 16 times (the last time 36-0), the POMS 12 times and one draw. Just to finish it off, I reminded him that Percy Montgomery was the top scorer in kicks in the RWC this time round. And that Johnny did not have a near perfect record at this stage, having missed 4 out of 7 kicks the week before. He left, looking slightly sorry he walked straight into this type of conversation.

So, this morning, when the Boks won - largely due to that man Percy Montgomery, I felt a lightness in my heart and for today, JUST FOR TODAY, I will concede: Percy, you are hotter than Flemo.