You've Won Your Stripes Already
As the last home game this season, False Bay had everything to play for, knowing that the next two weeks bring with them clashes in Stellenbosch in the maroon and gold-clad Danie Craven stadium. But Maties & Vics were dim matches in the future. What really mattered now was attempting to break down the 15 men in the blue & white stripes.
A pretty tough ask.
From the start the game was tough. Flyhalf Demetri missed two penalties early on, while Varsity stormed into the lead with a converted try. Hushed silences, the odd boo, loud cheering and vigorous chants of ‘False Bay, False Bay, False Bay’ from a group of spectators behind the poles reverberated around the packed ground as both teams put themselves to the metal and played their hearts out.
It was apparent that the Varsity side was the stronger, with playmakers dotting their centre, a bliz-vinnig few backs and the experience of a few postgraduate and alumni making up their core. But False Bay, spirited as we are, played their outmost, their hardest, and their most inspirational.
Many can say that this side ‘got lucky’ their first season back. But for those who’ve been at the games week in and week out, for those who’ve stuck with the club during the hard years in SLB, they know that False Bay has proved themselves as a serious contender in the league. And it’s not just the rugby that brings people back, time and time again.
Each week I arrive at False Bay and I’m always overwhelmed by the awesome ‘family vibe’. And I don’t just mean the hordes of children running around with dirty feet and rugby balls. I mean the way the Bay has such an inclusive atmosphere – everyone who arrives is made to feel welcome and part of something greater.
From the gees inspired in the bar as old and new hands mingle with the established and current ladies, to the bokjol musiek emanating from the red tent and the beer bottle-filled dustbins at the end of the night – there is something “under the ground at False Bay”, as coach Kevin Musikanth so often says.
It’s not just that our rugby boys have proved their mettle this season, it’s that a club has pulled together as a vital part of the Constantiaberg community and made Saturday club rugby a joy to attend.
So when the Bay dotted down their first and last try yesterday afternoon late into the second half, there were many holding on for a draw against UCT. Even though that wasn’t the case, and False Bay lost their first home game of the season, the spirit and camaraderie that was felt throughout the club afterwards made us all feel like winners.
I had a great chat with my uncle, a long-time Varsity supporter who came to watch the game, and who kept reiterating: “False Bay can be immensely proud of what they’ve achieved.” He felt so strongly about it, he even popped his head into the Tight Head at the end of the evening to tell Kevin face to face.
That is what made me proud – that boys, even though we lost this game, we have won in EVERY OTHER RESPECT this entire SLA 2010 season. So what, you didn’t beat the Ikey Tigers, but you sure as hell won your stripes.
