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Understanding the All Black support in Cape Town

By Jamie Wall
Cape Town All Black fans

There’s a case to be made that the most passionate supporters of the All Blacks aren’t in the shallow, banking stands behind the posts at Eden Park. You won’t find them filling up the yellow seats at Westpac Stadium, or under the roof at Forsyth Barr in Dunedin, either.

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All evidence points to them being in the aged stands of Newlands this weekend. For the first time in almost a decade, the All Blacks will play the Springboks in Cape Town – where the local support for New Zealand may well rival that of the Springboks.

That’s why, for some of us, this is the most interesting test match of the year. Yes, some of the lustre that this match brings has been taken off by the unbelievable demolition job the All Blacks laid on in Albany a few weeks ago. Despite a fighting draw against the Wallabies since, the fall out from the biggest loss in the Springboks’ history is ongoing – with questions over the head coach Allister Coetzee’s ability and the ever present debate about the merit of certain selections.

But even that hasn’t completely overshadowed why this one is more than just another test match.

Cape Town used to be a regular fixture on All Black tours to South Africa. It is, after all, the country’s second largest city and stronghold of rugby. But since their readmission to international rugby in 1992, the All Blacks have only played there four times. Of those four, they’ve won three. But that’s not the reason why their presence in the city has been so sparse.

100 test All Black Mils Muilaina played there twice, in 2005 and 2009. He says on The Short Ball podcast that ‘it’s honestly like playing a home game’.

“It’s not just what you get in the stadium. As soon as you get off the bus it’s a sea of black, some of the fans even sing the NZ national anthem.”

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The city is home to the country’s largest community of coloureds (the South African name given to people of mixed race), a sizeable section of whom openly cheer for the All Blacks, as well as visiting New Zealand Super Rugby teams.

Like many issues in South Africa, the original reason for this is rooted in the apartheid years. Coloured people were disenfranchised along with all other non-whites, and many harboured a deep resentment for anything promoting South African nationalism – one of which was the then all-white Springbok team. So, naturally, seeing them getting beaten was a strike back at the system of oppression affecting their everyday lives.

However, it’s not just politics that have seen New Zealand get such fervent support. For Cape Town All Black fans like Tauriq Ebrahim, a lot of it has to do with simply watching good rugby.

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“You will find that the older generation supported the All Blacks due to the fact that during Hendrik Verwoed’s term as Prime Minister, he did not allow Maori players to play against the Boks. Now at that time, the coloured community saw these Maori players as their heroes because of the colour of their skin. They saw other countries are giving ‘their people’ a chance on the international stage but their own government wasn’t allowing it. As a result of this, that generation supported the All Blacks.” he says.

However, it was an All Black tradition and players that won him over as a kid.

“The haka had me immediately. I kind of based my support for a team on an individual I enjoyed watching. So as an eight-year-old watching the RWC ‘95 it was the late Jonah Lomu, then came King Carlos Spencer.”

“I think it is important to understand why Capetonians support the All Blacks. Depending on the generation you ask, you would typically get a different answer. The All Blacks currently play a brand of rugby that is similar to that of the old SARU style where ball in hand was the order of the day and possession was valued.” he says.

Also, the old adage of simply backing a winner plays a big part in his support for the All Blacks.

“South Africans love winning. So when you see a team doing well, you will want to be associated with that success. This would be the second or third generation supporters – they are unaware of the history or politics behind the support for the All Blacks, but support them because they are currently the most successful country in World Rugby.”

Tauriq says there’s certainly a different atmosphere at Newlands when NZ-based teams play, something he puts down to the camaraderie between the locals fans of the All Blacks and Kiwi sides.

As for the result on Saturday, Tauriq is sticking with the All Blacks ‘by around 20 points’. Given the way his team has been playing lately, it’s pretty hard to disagree with that prediction.

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Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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