Ross Schutte holds up a large slab of beef biltong and says: ”Rugby is good for business. Biltong and rugby — man, the two go together like brandy and Coke.”
He expects business to be brisk in the Rembrandt Butchery in the Johannesburg suburb of Linden in the run-up to the final between South Africa and England on Saturday.
Schutte has just sold a bag of sliced biltong for more than R1 000 and taken two orders for lamb spit braais. ”You know, people are going to have a lekker braai and watch some rugby.”
This Rugby World Cup has been good because all the conditions are right, he says. In terms of biltong economics, the ideal conditions are if the game is played in the afternoon or at night and when the Springboks are doing well, so he’s feeling positive.
The World Cup in Australia was a sales disappointment because ”people don’t like to eat at 4am — the time difference made it difficult”.
In the 1995 Cup, which the Springboks won, the butchery couldn’t keep up with demand.
But, unlike biltong sales, a number of bottle-store owners have found beer sales to be flat. I don’t know, I think people are tired of sport. There’s the cricket, the rugby, so much sport,” said Wally Watton, of Solly Kramers in Parkhurst.
Another outlet says there has been no noticeable spike in sales of a little something to calm pre-match nerves, nor have there been supply hiccups.
Not short of supplies are the roadside vendors selling Springbok jerseys.
Up the road at the Bullring betting shop in Northcliff Corner, bookmaker Mike O’Connor says: ”It’s been a tough World Cup.” His odds for outright betting for South Africa lifting the trophy are three to 10, with two to 10 for England — and, so far, betting has been good.
Flight rush
Flight Centre’s Amanda Harvey said that the company has witnessed a surge of interest in fans trying to get over to Paris at the last minute. ”Our phones at Flight Centre have been going mad,” she said. Flight Centre has more than 100 outlets around the country.
There are still some flights available, especially for a stay longer than the weekend, but, said Harvey, there have been problems with visas, with the French consulate limiting applications to 100 a day.
”Many rugby enthusiasts made bookings last week even though at the time of booking South Africa were not yet assured of their spot in the finals. People have also booked flights without having tickets to the actual match.”
Website eBay on Wednesday had tickets ranging between $710 and $6 000 still available and media reports told of downcast Australia and New Zealand fans trying to offload tickets.
Guy Stringer, MD of SA Sports Packages, has had a few ”last-gasp calls” for packages, which range from R19 ,000 to R40 000. Even with a ticket in hand, flights and accommodation are almost fully booked up.
David Hands, sports writer for the Times in the United Kingdom, provided an accommodation solution on the TimesOnline‘s Rugby World Cup blog.
Interviewing a homeless person in Paris, he compiled a list of the best places to sleep when one does not have formal accommodation, with the Le Champ de Mars by the Eiffel Tower getting a five-star rating because it’s next to a police station; the courtyard of the Louvre getting four stars; Bois de Vincennes in east Paris if one takes a dog and a weapon; and one star for the underground because one is kicked out at 1am. — Sapa