Saturday

It is Saturday and I have nothing to say. Saturday means rugby. Fridays also in the Super 14 season. Last night my team, the Cheetahs from the Free State, lost to the Reds from Brisbane in Australia.

One of the best writers in South Africa, Karel Schoeman, once remarked: "I am not an Afrikaner, I am not a South African, I am a Free Stater." I fully agree but I don't know why. I was born there and love to visit one of the most beautiful parts of the country, the north-east Free State. By the way, if Schoeman wrote in English he probably would have won the Nobel Prize for literature and several Booker Prizes. He is translated into English so get him if you can.

Tourists often overlook the north-east Free State in their haste to see the Big Five (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo in case you didn't know) or the Garden Route (another piece of overtraded real estate if you ask me). They are possibly not aware that I was born there or of the magnificent landscapes that you can see even on your way to the Garden Route.

I had a boerewors roll for breakfast. I bought it at a church bazaar. The game I am going to watch now is the Blue Bulls from Pretoria and the Western Force from Perth, apparently the Pretoria of Australia. I grew up in Pretoria and hate the damn place. It is an insular place with all the smugness of a provincial capital altough it is the national capital. Although it is only 50km from Joburg it is a world apart.

It is on average 3 degrees celcius warmer than Joburg and is one of tthe least windy cities in the world. The heat and the lack of airflow probably have something to do with the stuffiness of its citizens. It is often said in Joburg that Pretoria is behind the Boerewors Curtain.

Meeting a girl in Pretoria goes something like this: "Hi I am Charles." "Hi Charles, I am Lizelle. What kind of car do you drive?" I may be mistaken but I think all girls in Pretoria are called Lizelle.

Nevertheless today I am supporting the Blue Bulls. That is how the Super 14 support system works. First you support your own team and then any South African team playing against an Australian or New Zealand outfit. The Bulls are my least favourite SA team but one of the favourites to win the competition. My poor Cheetahs are alas lying 12th on the log and they are unlikely to even get close to the top.

The problem the Cheetahs have to deal with every year is that the richer provinces buy all their best players and they have to start almost from scratch the next year. The Free State is rightly known as the rugby player factory of South Africa.

The Bulls are leading by 7 points to 6 after 26 minutes but they are not likely to lose. That is me for today.