New Zealand Super 15 Team Captains
Last weekend the Sharks and Crusaders locked horns in what was an epic battle. This was a fixture drawn up by the rugby Gods. The Crusaders showed why they are the top team in the competition, defeating the Sharks 44-28.
They are the two top teams from their respective conferences in this year’s competition, but have also for some time been two of the top teams in Super Rugby. It therefore goes without saying that a match between these two sides will always be epic, and something every rugby supporter needs to mark down on their calendars as a must see event.
Historic
It is not news to anyone that this match was not played in either Christchurch or Durban, but in fact, Twickenham London. But do we really appreciate the significance of this historic event? Have any of us sat down to reflect how this one match could possibly prove to be the catalyst to change the face of the rugby landscape forever?
Everyone knows the decision to host this match at Twickenham comes off the back of the horrific events in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago, and as much as I appreciate and amazed yet again how the rugby fraternity manage to stand together as brothers-in-arms using the game to bring human beings from all walks of life together in a time of tragedy, the significance of this event even goes beyond that.
Global game
Rugby union as a global sport is struggling. Not only because of the nature of the game and the challenges it faces to grow its popularity worldwide, but also because we are our own worst enemies.
Hands up from those who have read articles about North vs. South rugby! Or how the one proclaims to play the game it’s supposed to be played while the others play basketball or some rubbish like that?
Rugby’s ‘global season’ or the proposed concept of such an event has also been a very hot topic in recent years, but with the insistence of the North and South both believing their way is the best way and the other one needs to sacrifice.
It’s a case almost of each Hemisphere protecting its brand with such determination that it refuses to give the other even the slightest of chances to prove itself or its worth.
This weekend however, the Sharks and the Crusaders became the flag-bearers of Southern Hemisphere rugby where they took the top ‘product’ on offer from the Southern Hemisphere, and showcased it to the rugby fraternity up North.
Personally, I think this was one of the most historic events in rugby union’s history as a professional sport, and event which will squash and ridicule a whole host of perceptions and pre-conceived ideas from either side when it comes to the game played in heaven.
This spectacle served its primary goal to assist those individuals affected by the terrible events in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago, but perhaps, that this event will also bring the North closer to the South in the process as well.
