Guessing Competition
The writer was sent the following email from John when asking about coaching courses. A prize is being offered to the first person who translate the email below….
Email from John…
There was no requirement for any “previous experience”.
A try was worth 4 points. Rucking was not only allowed but was required to win the ball. You had 15 players and “replacements” had not been invented. Injured players got bandaged and then played on. The ref called “pack !” and the scrum engaged.
Before my level 2 things were even more different.
I first played on the high veldt of South Africa in 1959. My boots were all leather. Including the studs which were made of 4 or 5 rings of leather held into the bottom of the boot with 3 metal pins. (Moulded soles had not been invented in 1959.). These boots were VERY good for rucking, especially when the leather wore down exposing the ends of the metal pins. My first try was worth only 3 points. I watched Pinetree Meads play at Ellis Park and was given a ticket by a friend of my Dads. There was no television so if you didn’t go to the game you listened to it on the radio. When I moved to hooker the coach taught me how to hook with my head if the scrum got low enough.
The above is testament to the fact I can not argue with “— silly South African….”
Regards, The Lion Of Transvaal.
October 30th, 2009 at 11:24 am
We can’t bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don’t go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m’shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you’d say. Now where was I… oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn’t get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones…