Shattered Glass

I’ve always likened the phenomenon of having something spoiled for me with the sound of glass shattering, almost like being untouchable in a glass cage and then having it crash down, leaving the preserved content open for everyone to take apart.

I’ve had the privilege of boasting with a record of not having recorded a loss on the sanctity that is Loftus for as long as I’ve worn the number seven jumper.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end, and the shatter seemed louder than ever before.

I’m sitting in my living room today (Monday), and I know that Saturday’s result will set the tone for the next week. It’s rather impossible not to feel down in the dumps after something like that.

We have a bye on the weekend, so we’ve been given the week off – something that will definitely help us as far as keeping fresh is concerned, considering the length of the competition. Unfortunately it means the agony of the loss is extended by a week, since that will be the first chance we get to set things right.

Strangely enough I felt mentally exhausted during the game, most probably because, like a guy commented on my last column, I too was wondering when we’re going to “click”. However, I remind myself that it’s a long competition, and you’re going to stumble once or twice along the way.

I expected the call much earlier, but it came at about 5 o’clock - Message from “Porra” du Preez: “My house, now!”

Victor joined us a bit later with his family, and we had a good hard honest look at the game. It really ended up saving me a bit – I realised that I probably looked a little beaten down, which I gathered from the fact that my parents dropped by my house twice just to make sure that I hadn’t pulled the trigger, yet.

In times like these you need a solid support base.

Among the lessons learnt on the weekend is the fact that we might have put too much pressure on ourselves these first three weeks. We’re a team that plays a hell of lot better when we untie ourselves.

Yes, we made many mistakes on the weekend. I missed one tackle in the game, and a couple of phases later it ended up costing us seven points, at a time when we were just getting back into it. Boy, am I beating myself up about it.

It happens though, and after the game we all said: If everyone were just 5% better, we probably would have walked away with a win. We reiterated this at Fourie’s house.

But let me tell you that there is no reason to be alarmed. I reckon the people just want to hear that we will come back in 2 weeks time, not with the mentality of having our perfect record made obsolete, but with pledge made to ourselves that we will never take a game on Loftus for granted again.

If you are as Bulls supporter that likes Man United and backs the Proteas not to screw up this time around, you were really let down on the weekend, and I’m sorry for having played a part in the grimness of the weekend.

We will be better though. Bank on it.

Unfortunately we haven’t had a review yet, so the awards ceremony hasn’t taken place yet, but I’ll let you know how it panned out. Right now I’m getting ready for Pedrie Wannenburg’s bachelor’s party, and it’s his wedding on Saturday. Here’s wishing him all the best with his marriage, I know he’ll make a huge success of it.

So I’m greeting until next week, where I’ll hopefully have some details on what the guys got up to in their off-week. Have a good one yourselves…