With rugby in South Africa no longer just for whites, radio=20 commentary of the World Cup will be in all 11 official=20
RUGBY: Barney Spender
WITH the World Cup rollercoaster gathering pace, and black=20 market tickets for the big games already changing hands at=20 silly prices, it is important to stop and reflect for a=20 moment on the plight of the foreign visitor who has come to=20 South Africa to enjoy the rugby.
It’s true that with wodges of foreign boodle stashed in=20 their slacks our overseas guests should be able to overcome=20 most of the difficulties which come their way. But consider=20 for a moment Taffy Welshman or Paddy Irishman, based in=20 Johannesburg, settling down in the snug of the Boat and=20 Gherkin for a couple of pots while watching some of the=20 other games from around the country.
In days of yore, it was tough enough for overseas strays=20 that commentary was split 50/50 English/Afrikaans, but now=20 imagine their consternation when after 15 minutes of=20 English — and all seemingly going well — the commentary=20 switches to Xhosa. And then, after 10 minutes of that, when=20 our two potters might be thinking that it will switch back=20 to English any moment, the final 15 minutes of the half=20 comes their way in Afrikaans.
Despite being able to see the action on the screen, Taffy=20 and Paddy want to hear the commentary. One of them pulls=20 out a small radio and as they flick through the channels=20 they find rugby commentary on every one of them — in Zulu,=20 Sesotho, Pedi, Tswana … Finally they find Radio 2000 and=20 the dulcet tones of Trevor Quirk and Andy Capostagno, not=20 considered fluent English speakers by many, it’s true, but=20 about as good as we are going to get.
Still, the confusion for overseas visitors is in itself a=20 triumph for rugby in South Africa, an indication of the=20 growing interest among the black and coloured communities=20 in the game and the tournament.=20
There has always been an element of interest in rugby from=20 these quarters but for the first time the whole country=20 appears united behind a team which used to represent the=20 bad old days of apartheid. The Springbok slogan of “One=20 team, one nation” suddenly does not seem so out of place.
“It’s going to be tremendous for rugby in this country,”=20 says Springbok manager and former captain Morne du Plessis.=20 “You can’t hide from rugby in the next six weeks and that’s=20 what rugby needs. The game will be sold to many more people=20 and more youngsters from all population groups will become=20 interested in playing the game.=20
“We’re looking for new ground for rugby to break into and=20 the World Cup is an ideal time to do that.”
The major breakthrough has, as Taffy and Paddy will already=20 avow, come through the media. Thanks to a big financial=20 input from the Northern Transvaal Rugby Union, the SABC=20 spent a week training rugby commentators from each of the=20 black radio stations on the rules, which areas of play to=20 look out for and terminology.
As a result the opening game between South Africa and=20 Australia at Newlands on May 25 will be the first rugby=20 match ever to be given full radio commentary in all 11=20 official languages. And the final at Ellis Park on June 23=20 will get the same treatment.
Television coverage of the games on SABC is also breaking=20 new ground with Dumile Mateza giving his ha’penny worth in=20 Xhosa. Unfortunately, there will be no expert comments man=20 with him, but if Garry Pagel and Mark Andrews sit out a=20 game, then who knows, they may get pressed into service.
For some the experience is not new. Radio Xhosa has been=20 covering Currie Cup rugby for the last 10 years and has=20 enough listener interest to warrant commentary on 25 of the=20 52 games in the World Cup. For others it is still uncharted=20
When Radio Zulu presenter Sjula Mnisi returned from his=20 course with the SABC he began running a 10 minute programme=20 once a week on the laws of the game to try and educate his=20 listeners. Owing to public demand, 10 minutes a week=20 changed to half an hour every day.
“My first commentary was a few weeks ago when Natal played=20 against Border and it was a bit of a gamble. But it worked=20 out. The response was very positive and encouraging=20 although some people thought it was all a big joke,” says=20
‘But the listeners are getting used to the game and=20 learning all the time. Now the task lies with us to make=20 the public aware of the World Cup and we have started that.=20 Some of the soccer fans have commented very positively=20 about it and a lot of them have said that they are now=20 beginning to enjoy watching rugby on the television. I’m a=20 great believer that once you know the rules of any sport=20 then you begin to understand it and enjoy it better.”
Part of the programme consists of phone-ins, during which=20 there has been plenty of discussion over the correct Zulu=20 translation for technical terms. With African languages=20 always looking to refer back to nature to describe events,=20 a scrum when translated back into English, came out as=20 “bulls locking heads to fight about a cow”.
In the event, Mnisi, in the tradition of soccer=20 commentaries, decided to stick to the English technical=20
Gawie Swart, who has been dictating all the SABC radio=20 logistics, sees the World Cup as a major stepping stone in=20 breaking the traditional black South African view that=20 rugby is a white supremacist sport.
“It will never topple boxing or soccer,” he says. “But,=20 look at it, none of these radio stations would cover the=20 games if their listeners weren’t interested. With the World=20 Cup, rugby has genuinely taken off.”
For Taffy, Paddy and all the others, it is a case of enjoy=20 the cultural diversity — and keep your radio tuned in to=20