Well can you believe it, the perennial chokers have done it again?
It really amazes me how this happens every four years, and it seems to be getting worse. In 1995 they were the favourites and lost to a spirited Bok side in a closely fought contest in the highveld. Not really a total disgrace losing to the home side in a tight final, but hey they were favourites.
In 1999 they were once again favourites (as I think they will always be going into any world cup), but were somehow thrown off course in an amazing match by French comeback of note!
In 2003 they were starting to carry the tag chokers, much like Phil Mickelson did in the majors for a large portion of his career, when they went to Australia as favourites. They had lost to England at home that year but had obliterated the rest of the opposition in the run up to RWC2003. They unfortunately came across the home side in the semis and once again choked on their favourites tag.
Yesterday though things got worse! They were by far the best side at the competition (as much as the fair weather Bok supports might want to argue against the 'by far' adjective), yet they didn't get into the last 4 of the cup. What happened? Well to be honest, I felt they were robbed by some pretty average reffing (key phrases being 'forward pass' and 'hands in'). But in the end, as all law abiding South African and particularly Sybrand Park citizens (although not convinced that the all people abiding in the danger zone of Sybrand can be described as citizens - harsh, but fair) will know, when you robbed there is not much you can do about it except complain.
But hey, on the bright side for the Kiwis is that there is always 2011 in New Zealand. What are the chances they could possibly not win there?
No comments:
Post a Comment