SPRINGBOK coach Heyneke Meyer is obviously so wrapped up in rugby at the moment that he hasn’t been keeping up with politics.
If he had taken the time to read more than the sports pages in newspapers he would have realised that our country is wooing (pun intended) the Chinese, NOT the Japanese.
If we had lost to the Chinese, President Zuma himself would have thrown a reed dance parade for the team at Nkandla, but the Cherry Blossoms? Well, the latter certainly proved that Pearl Harbour wasn’t a once off. The Japanese are the masters of surprise.
The loss will also teach the Springboks a lesson for cocking a snook at the Lions. No, not the rugby team that had Sharks supporters crying into their Castle Lites during the sports bar curtain-raiser for the Bok game on Saturday, but Port Shepstone Lions.
The match clashed with the Lions’ annual dinner for young leaders from Sheppie High, a formal affair which took place in the hall at the Port Shepstone Country Club, adjacent to the pub where fans (jubilant at that stage) were whooping at the top of their voices.
It was a glamorous affair with the young leaders kitted out in all their finery and one left with a feeling that our country will be in good hands in the future. Few seemed to notice the sudden, deathly hush emanating from the bar at some stage, but one could guess the cause. Oho!
Nevertheless, the volume in the bar was soon turned up again, not in celebration of course, but for a good old Irish-style wake.
Hats off to the dedicated Lions who have organised this Leadership Retreat for the past 29 years and there is no doubt that it has helped Port Shepstone High maintain its reputation as a fine learning establishment in a country where many others are under the cosh. Port Shepstone Rotary follows suit shortly when they hold their annual Youth Leadership Course, also based at Port Shepstone High, which has been going for 53 years.
It’s this involvement and support for all schools by the community as a whole that will insure our country’s future. Unions and teachers squabbling about ANA’s (Annual National Assessments) and threatening to go on strike is certainly not setting a good example to our youth.
There has also been much said in the Herald and social media of late about teachers being ‘under siege’.
By all means, sift out the rotten eggs, but not at the expense of the vast majority of teachers who are still dedicated to their profession and pupils who are eager to soak up the knowledge they impart.
Oh, and don’t buck the Lions. They have the power to break a drought. They just have to organise an event and the heavens open… tears from Bok supporters and all.
