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Expectant Wallabies fans willing to risk further pain
Philip Derriman
September 13, 2008
SQUARE EYES
MAYBE you were one of those rugby fans who, after seeing the Wallabies' pitiful performance in Johannesburg, vowed never to watch the national team again. But now, just two weeks later, chances are you'll happily tune into Channel Seven for tonight's Bledisloe Cup match.
It's not that you've forgiven the Wallabies for letting you down so badly against the Springboks, rather it's just that time has dulled the pain and you're willing to give them another chance.
That's the problem with Australian rugby fans: we expect the Wallabies to perform as if they are the best team in the world, whereas more often than not they're only third best and sometimes fourth best. The Irish have a better attitude. They love it when their team occasionally beats the big guns, but they don't despair when they lose to the likes of the All Blacks - they didn't count on winning anyway.
One consequence of taking defeat to heart is bearing animosity towards the nation inflicting the defeat. Sport is supposed to draw nations together. As China's foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said before the Beijing Olympics: "We hope and believe that all athletes … will make efforts to promote friendship among the peoples of the world."
In fact, sport often has the opposite effect - a fact recognised as far back as the 1930s by playwright George Bernard Shaw. (His quotes include: "Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being ended sooner.") Shaw argued that Ashes Tests, far from promoting goodwill between England and Australia, actually "induce antagonism and rivalry".
This is probably true, and it would explain why Scots like Australians more than the English do. They don't play cricket against us.
Which leads to an interesting question: do Tri Nations rugby matches make us like New Zealanders and South Africans more or less? One way to find out would be to compare the public's feelings towards them in Sydney and Brisbane against how they are regarded in, say, Adelaide and Hobart, where the All Blacks and Springboks make little impression. It would not be surprising to find that locals in the southern cities feel kinder towards Kiwis and South Africans than they do in the north.
Meanwhile, viewers watching the haka tonight may be interested to know it has caught on in the US, as illustrated by a new American movie about rugby, Forever Strong, to be released internationally in a couple of weeks. The movie features a haka performed by a high school rugby team at the centre of the story. You can see some of the haka in a trailer for the movie at Apple - Movie Trailers - Forever Strong.
Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, has a rugby team long considered all but unbeatable. The story, apparently based on fact, is about a student who ends up playing against the team his father coaches in the national competition.
The Highland team is by no means the only one performing the haka in the US. Even a few gridiron teams put out a version of it, prompting someone to complain on the movie's blog: "Haka is a Maori tradition. In no way should Americans be performing them, and in no way should American football teams be performing them, as they are starting to do. It's just something 'cool' to do in the States, and is totally devoid of history and meaning."
Highland's coach, Larry Gelwix, who is portrayed in the movie, explains on the same blog: "My first rugby coach in college was from New Zealand. He brought that [haka] tradition with him. What people have to understand is that it's not just a cute dance … there is a message associated with the haka."
Expectant Wallabies fans willing to risk further pain - Sport - smh.com.au
How many world Cups do we have compared to the Kiwis???Dipshit Derriman:
That's the problem with Australian rugby fans: we expect the Wallabies to perform as if they are the best team in the world, whereas more often than not they're only third best and sometimes fourth best.
Posted via space
Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
what a twat...
Its such a stupid article, it starts off saying about the Bledisloe and thena bout how much we do/don't like Kiwis and South Africans and then about a movie and a school doing the Haka...I'm no journo but the article doesn't even stay on track or go with the title![]()
is it live on 7???
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White
haha of course not! (unless you live in Sydney or Brisbane)
aww k
the only thing i really like 7 for is packed to the rafters
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White
hmmmm....no chancechances are you'll happily
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White