Reason to hope for a Durban semi

There were a couple of phone calls from British journalists during the early part of January, and it was not hard to imagine that there was a note of exasperation in their voices after they had hit their heads against a brick wall in their vain attempts to get rugby information out of South Africa.

“I phoned the South African rugby offices at Newlands and got the impression that work only really begins for them on Monday (12 January). I suppose the year starts later in South Africa than it does over here,” lamented a writer seeking info about the local preparations for the Lions tour.

When I took his call I was somewhere on the road between the Eastern Cape coast and Cape Town at the end of my own annual down time from rugby and work, so had nothing that I could add that would make him any happier. But I did point out a few facts about the way of South Africa this past cricket...er, I mean Festive Season.

“Firstly, it is summer over here, and this is when everyone takes their annual holiday. Secondly, this is one of those rare times when rugby really isn’t a big media focus. We have just beaten Australia in Australia for the first time, and this is now cricket country.”

It has been a weird couple of weeks. Apart from the momentous achievement by the Proteas, the other big news that filtered through to my hideaway in the Eastern Cape was the Kevin Petersen furore in England. When Graham Ford was mentioned as a possible alternative England coach, it seemed for a moment that two Maritzburg old boys might end up guiding that nation’s cricket fortunes.

That possibility though proved nothing more than conjecture, and as it stands at the moment, the Maritzburg College connection in the England team is only interested in doing “something that I totally, totally love, which is scoring runs and more runs for England”.

Rugby? Where was the rugby during this period? Yes, I know it is off-season, but my mind readily recalls instances where rugby has encroached onto both the front pages and sports pages in early January. Out of the top of my head, Harry Viljoen chose the first week of January to resign as Springbok coach in 2002, and Peter de Villiers’s appointment was announced in the same period last year.

Unless something has been missed during my Eastern Cape isolation, there is no tug of war between franchises or clubs over the services of players such as there was 12 months ago when Bakkies Botha wasn’t quite sure whether he was a Bull or a new recruit for Toulon.

So my working year started with a glance at the Super 14 itinerary, and from the personal viewpoint of someone who has also used the off-time to start the build-up to a sixth Comrades Marathon medal, it nearly had me coughing up my post-toasties.

For those who don’t know, the Comrades, this year a down run from Maritzburg to Durban, has been brought forward from its old date in mid-June to 24 May to avoid a clash with the Confederations Cup.

The problem with the new date, and I am not sure whether the Comrades organisers are aware of it, is that it just happens to fall on the weekend of the Super 14 semifinals. From a personal viewpoint, it means I have to hope that the Sharks do me a massive favour by booking a home semi, which they could well do.

If it is against the Stormers, then that would be even more perfect as it avoids clashes with any other possible commitments, and if I can avoid the lure of the Absa Stadium after-party, it would give me an opportunity to transport myself early next morning to the start, something that would be impossible if I had to be at Newladns the day before the race.

From the viewpoint of the rugby people and the Comrades people, however, the consequences of this potential clash of major events could be massive. Durban has enough accommodation and congestion problems on major rugby weekends as well as the Comrades weekends as it is. What is going to happen when both fall at the same time?

If you running Comrades this year, or you are wanting to be present at a Durban Super 14 semifinal, maybe you should be making your flight and hotel bookings today.