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Dis Currie Beker dag, and it is 30 years after THAT day,6 October 1990,the greatest sporting day of my life, (even after attending countless RWCs/Olympics/CWCs/SWCs) here is a few things I remember(thanks mainly to dry January!) 1/12 #CurrieCupFinal @TheSharksZA @BlueBullsRugby
1990, first year at Tuks, from Natal, @MopaneRES res, Pretoria sweats rugby.Played rugby for Tuks o/19,befriended Natal mad prop,aptly named Paul Roos(related to the original,and like @coetzee_eduard , played Affies and NTVL schools)other prop, Albert, related to H Rodgers 2/12
Scrumhalf was Quinton Van Rooyen's son. Half of @TUKS_OF_NIKS1 played for Northern Transvaal. Our coach was Rudi Joubert. Year of non stop abuse as Natal Supporter.... 3/12
The big day approached, in @MopaneRES Johan Lock (Jan’s brother) crushed a banana on my dining table, Heyneke Meyer, our 1st year HK said “no chance” and my Economics 101 lecturer, rather ominously, Pieter Nel, wished me good luck…4/12
It was holiday, the day before me and Paul (day student) spent the day painting a banner “Peel ‘em Natal” , then you were still allowed to take the field before kick off with a banner. Got tickets through Tuks Rugby, R16 a shot (ouch!), hallway line,4 rows from the front. 5/12
Slept nothing the night before, and Saturday we made our way to Loftus. Armed with our Banana Boys banner, 6 black labels each and a boerewors. We wore black & white shorts/t-shirts, and painted our legs black and white. (oil paint!) “Fooken Zebras!” all day….sigh..6/12
We placed ourselves by the railway bridge, begging a spot on somebody’s braai.Dust, beer, laughter, abuse, banter, “We are black we are white we are fokken dynamite” “We play good rugby in Natal”. Fun.Some Natal Varsity Banana Boys took us in (we helped translate the abuse). 7/12
Into Loftus,everyone talks English to us (hilarious) in our seats with Tuks Rugby, abuse etc. Then round to main stand with banner, waved through,(security!) onto Loftus, abuse,naartjies, had to move deeper in field. Natal runs out through banner, Jamieson looked determined. 8/12
What? Andre Botha in the team? Where is Athers? Pieter Nel? We make our way back to seat, abuse, English (!) at Loftus. Game was a blur, but at the end, Tony runs past us, Theo (from @MopaneRES !) slips the tackle, Grobler pounces, Joel makes it 9. 9/12
I missed the actual try, a Tuks teammate had me in a bear hug when Tony broke the tackle, then the nerve wreaking run from Jannie Claasens,then jubilation. Remember sitting in my seat for 10 minutes afterwards to soak it up. Bulls fans congratulating in Pretoria Engels. 10/12
After the game all the Natal fans congregated before the main stand, sitting on the grass, with the occasional Natal player coming out to large cheers. I saw grown men digging up pieces of the turf!! Hatfield was mayhem that night. first in 100 Years! 11/12
The greatest sporting day of my life. The next day I took the bus home to PMB, and on Van Reenen’s pass somebody had already erected a makeshift sign “Welcome to Currie Cup Country”. I had paint on my legs till December. Go @TheSharksZA 12/12
