After a wait, which, in my opinion, was way too long, the Tri Nation Rugby finally goes to Cape Town, South Africa this weekend as South Africa takes on New Zealand this Saturday, on green turf!

“I’m getting slightly moist”, said my friend as he quipped in a needlessly graphic way about his excitement for this game.  I can’t tell if he means he’s going to wet himself or whether he’s referring to something more sexual.

Nevertheless (shaking-vivid-image-from-mind), at 1305 GMT this Saturday, 14 Aug, the Springboks come up again their nemesis, the All Blacks, on the green-green grass of the Newlands Stadium.

What? A little history?

Yeah, the history of the Newlands Stadium is interesting, if not colourful.  The actual grounds of the stadium was bought way back in 1888 (which must make it hugely auspicious for the Chinese) and saw the first game played in 1890 in front of a meager 2,400 people.

Today Newlands stadium can seat over 51,000 people in a relatively modern, recently’ish renovated concrete stadium.  It’s still one of South Africa’s most beautiful stadiums, set among the greenery and the slopes of the wet side of Table Mountain.

The stadium is accessible by all modes of transport, but the trains will bring you closest.  Going by car is what many people do though, in spite of the fact that you have to park blocks away and walk your way in.

The walk is often part of the game, as along the way loads of people will be throwing a braai (BBQ) and having a tipple before moving on to the stadium for some serious rugby.

Future of Newlands Stadium

Now is the time to enjoy the rugby games, especially the international ones, that are being hosted in the historic stadium of Newlands, because soon it might not be used so often anymore.

Currently in progress, and hopefully completed before the 2010 soccer world cup in South Africa, is the Greenpoint Stadium.

Until recently, possibly one of the most neglected stadiums around, the Greenpoint Stadium actually occupied some prime property in Cape Town and, to be fair, hosted some epic concerts and sporting events.

It was an obvious venue for the high-profile football matches scheduled for the 2010 world cup, but the stadium was ill equipped for the hordes of people expected and, besides, was in serious disrepair.

Somebody somewhere made the decision that it would in fact be easier to virtually rebuild the stadium instead of the substantial upgrades it would require.  The future Greenpoint Stadium is slated to be able to house 68,000 people.

Not living in Cape Town I’m not up to date with the latest goss of its progress, but I would love to know if it will be done in time for 2010 and what will be done regarding parking, access and traffic in general, as it’s literally pushed into a corner of Cape Town which isn’t traffic friendly at all.

Back to the Rugby

But I digress.  Back in Rugby land not only do the Springboks have their work cut out for them this weekend as they meet the All Blacks on their home turf, but the poor Springbok coach Pieter De Villiers does too.

There is forever an issue with colour balance in the Springbok team and I read, nearly chocking on my coffee, that black and coloured people of Cape Town traditionally support the All Blacks!  Race, I tell you, is one of those nasty dividers equaled only by religion.

Why can’t we all just see each other as human and practice a unifying religion like, say, rugby?

What I would like to see is the entire crowd at Newlands Stadium dressed in green, the way the staunch All Black supporters at the Dunedin Stadium were dressed in black when they met the Bokke there.

And no boo’ing or hissing when the All Blacks do something good or bad, just nothing but a deafening silence.  Or not, as the Bokke did break a nearly 100 year old record that day at Dunedin, but still, an all green crowd would be amazing.

The Springboks doesn’t have an easy ride either way.  They played 3 games so far and lost 2 of those, so they’re a little behind in the standings.  Check out the standings table for the dire picture.

But Bokke to the end! If it can be done, they can do it.  Go Bokke, I don’t mind what colour my Bok is, as long as he’s green!

If you enjoyed this post, do subscribe to the 1Earth RSS feed!