RWC Final 2007 – Jaspa’s, Hanoi, Viet Nam

Wow. And wow and wowowowowowow!!!!
First and foremost I want to congratulate our southern “blues broers” for keeping up the southern hemisphere’s name and coming in third in the Rugby World Cup by beating France. Again.
Congratulations Argentina!

Last night (Saturday, 20 October), or at least this morning, was the RWC final. I was not all convinced to go... I mean 2 am ain’t funny, but in the end the fact that it was the final and that South Africa is facing off England, made me get up and go. Man, am I glad I went.
First, I forgot my cell in the taxi. It’s the first time since I got my third phone that I did not wear it around my neck, and there we are. This time, I had the taxi number, I called for a taxi and therefore had a registered starting and end point. We immediately called my number, but it must have been in a funny spot, cos it did not go through. So, I though..... Damnit, I did it again (sorry Britney!)
I have to thank Jaspa’s staff for assisting me so much. After 30 minutes Hanoi taxi phoned to indicate that they have found the phone and will bring it to me at 01:00 am. Maaaan, was I ecstatic!
Then I could get ready for the rugby!!! Some South Africans that I met at the first SA game came in and I went to join them. Jaspa’s was packed by the time the rugby start, with a whole lot of English supporters and about 12 of us. YES, I’m counting the Italian guy. He was wearing the real RWC South African jersey, so I think he counts. :) The guys were pumped......they were singing waaay before the game started and getting the whole group excited and me just plain damn nervous.
Across from us was this group of young English supporters who I could see was not liking the fact that we are so “happy” and “excited” and sure we’re going to win.
Then the game started. As expected it was a bit of a tennis match. But, as one of the pommies later explained to me.....they did not really have the backline to beat us, so they had to kick. And every time they kicked, they kicked deep into our territory, so the best way to get out......is to kick again. Oh well, who cares?
I have this vivid memory of the kid across from us, shouting to us, “You are not invincible”. We all looked at him with a bit of surprise......who the hell said we were? There’s a reason we were all nervous!
There was the heart stopping moment when England scored a try, and we all agreed it was a try. But, then I noticed that the guy’s foot dragged the side line. My heart nearly stopped. The video ref ruled “disallowed”, and we were very much still in the game.
Did the English kid across from us loooost it. You see, even though we were boisterous before the game started, we were relatively quiet during the game as everybody was seriously watching the game. Of course, we were also outnumbered by much, so there’s no real use trying to scream over “swing low”! The kid was blaming the ref, and I could just see that in his book, they won. *roll eyes*

The last 5 minutes of the game, one of the guys initiated the standard Ole, ole, ole and everybody joined in with much enthusiasm. Man, was this a poetic justice win. England kicked their way into the final, and we kicked our way to the cup. Whoop!!!
It was a sweet victory for us at Jaspas (yes i’m sure in the rest of the world as well!). When we jumped up to celebrate, the little pommie with the loud mouth was trying to get us to acknowledge that the try was a try and that we aren’t the real winners. We just laughed. If the shoe was on the other foot..... and after all, the score (as they say) was on the board. No matter if it was just penalties.
I could not have asked for a better place to watch the final. The air in Jaspa’s was just plain electrifying and to me that was as close as could be to actually being there!
The only embarrassing thing for me was that I have never bothered to learn our new National Anthem. So, at the start of the game, I did not know the words. South Africa, I will learn. When I stand in front of foreigners again, I will be able to sing for my country. I promise.
It is now 09:24, and I’ve just had an English breakfast to celebrate. It’s been a long evening, and I’ve only had 2 hours sleep. Vietnam, I thank you for an unforgettable experience with the RWC.
My boytjies! To the boys in green and gold, THANK YOU for making us proud!