AS SOON AS Itumeleng hops out of the Uber to offer a fist bump and cheerily announce, “You do you!” it’s clear that there’s an interesting ride to the train station in Pretoria ahead.
He’s a hard worker, hoping to build his transport business and get rich, but he’s taking a rare day off this Saturday. Itumeleng has got his hands on a prized possession: a ticket to the Springboks’ clash with Ireland at Loftus Versfeld.
“It’s going to be hectic,” he says, adding that he plans to get a “deep, deep rest” on Friday night so he’s ready for the mania of match day.
When it emerges that he has just picked up someone who was speaking to Rassie Erasmus in the Springboks’ team hotel, his excitement goes up a notch. He rolls down his window while driving, leans out and starts to chant, “Oh, lo, lo, lo, lo. Rrrrrrasssie! Rrrrrrasssie!” at the top of his voice.
By the end of the 15-minute journey, your correspondent would have been happy to jump into a Test match. The buzz in the Volkswagen Polo ends abruptly when Itumeleng is asked what it meant to him when the Springboks won their two World Cups.
He is speechless. Unable to find the words, he signals that we’ve reached our destination.
This is one of a few insights we’ve had into how obsessed South Africa is with rugby since arriving on Monday morning. It has been a frenetic and enjoyable few days in Johannesburg and Pretoria, where the excitement about this weekend’s Test is vivid.
Landing into our hotel in well-to-do Sandton after two days of tiring travel, the phone beeps almost immediately and we’re back out the door to board a train to Pretoria for an interview.
Our driver from station to meeting is Tumi, whose brother Pablo Mamatse plays with ‘Tuks,’ otherwise known as the University of Pretoria. Tumi is the first of many people who seem to know a current or aspiring professional rugby player.
Back down in Johannesburg that evening, we’re united with the rest of the small group of travelling Irish media but don’t last long before the eyelids start getting very heavy.
Tuesday morning, it’s back to Pretoria to see Rassie. Lebohang is a former journalist who has turned his hand to Uber driving and is happy to offer a brief tour of Pretoria en route to the Boks’ hotel.
South Africa has three capital cities – Cape Town being the legislative centre, Bloemfontein the judicial home, and Pretoria the administrative capital.
Lebohang points out where the president of South Africa lives, a residence called Mahlamba Ndlopfu, which means ‘New Dawn’ in Tsonga, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. It was Nelson Mandela who named the gaff.
This journey also includes an explanation of why Carling Black Label beer is popular with both working folk in shebeens and hipsters in the coolest bars. It’s known as ‘Zamalek’ from the 1990s when Egyptian football club Zamalek SC came to Johannesburg and hammered the local favourites, Kaiser Chiefs. South African fans supposedly said Zamalek were as strong as the 5.5% Carling Black Label.
Pretorians seem proud that their city is seen as safer than Johannesburg, where we’re repeatedly warned to be on guard, not go out after dark, and keep the phone in the pocket. The fact that hulking Australian prop Taniela Tupou was mugged outside the Wallabies’ fancy hotel shows that anyone can be a target.
Inside the Boks’ hotel, Rassie is ready to hold court and seems happy that a member of the Irish media has made the trip. He certainly has a few messages for his Irish audience. He’s in entertaining form and it says a lot that Eben Etzebeth, one of the best players in the world, sits alongside Erasmus for 30 minutes and gets just three questions.
No matter where you go in the rugby world, you’ll bump into someone Irish. Jerry Flannery stops for a quick chat, as does the Springboks’ Irish performance analyst, Paddy Sullivan.
Back onto the Gautrain to Jo’burg and our hotel, where Ireland are also staying but have a private area to keep prying eyes away. As with the Boks, there has been a blend of stressed and relaxed-looking faces, everyone handling the build-up in their own way.
The hype goes up another notch on Tuesday evening when the Springboks release their superb video dubbing this Saturday’s Test as “unfinished business.” Only hours before, Rassie himself had taken umbrage with a journalist suggesting the Springboks would use those exact words when speaking about Ireland.
Rugby is certainly an obsession here, the national sport, but the Springboks deserve credit for the way they feed the beast.
Their two Chasing the Sun series have set a new standard in providing behind-the-scenes insight and the Boks seem to understand that they’re in the entertainment industry. Of course, winning trophies is the best PR you can get.
Tuesday evening brings the Irish crew to the Butcher Shop & Grill in Nelson Mandela Square, highly recommended by at least 10 people. The steak and red wine live up to the billing, then we’re all introduced to a Don Pedro for dessert. We’re all converted.
On Wednesday morning, it’s time to see if the altitude really is a factor. Three kilometres on the treadmill and 10 minutes of intervals definitely isn’t enough to find out but the cobwebs are blown off at least.
Then it’s on to St Peter’s College for Ireland’s meeting with young players from the township of Alexandra, one of the poorest areas in the country. We don’t get to visit Alexandra, where the shacks and houses are crammed together and the population density is estimated at around 26,000 people per kilometre. Our base of Sandton, such a jarring contrast in its wealth, is right next door but a world away with a density of 1,500 per kilometre.
It’s winter here but it’s still 20°C at St Peter’s, where some of the locals look perplexed at the Irish lads wearing shorts. Some of them are wrapped up in coats and hats against the cold weather. As Eben Etzebeth knows, context is everything.
While the warnings about being safe follow us everywhere, so far the welcome from South Africans has been nothing but enthusiastic and genuine. The fact that they’re so obsessed with rugby means we feel right at home.
