I was invited to watch the South Africa v Argentina Test match at Boktown in the Monte Casino this past weekend. I decided to take my son along and before we arrived at the venue we stopped in to get him a Springbok Rugby jersey. I wasn’t prepared to take a second bond on my house for the top of the range, but we got him a nice World Cup replica and enjoyed some refreshments while we waited for kick-off.
Although I was decked in an old Bok jersey of my own I actually fancied Argentina to beat the 18.5 point handicap they were given mainly because the Boks had picked a very experimental side having won the Rugby Championship the week before. I couldn’t bring myself to back the visitors in that environment though and instead took the view that it would be a high scoring game and had a bet on Argentina to score 19 points or more. In this way I could still cheer the Boks on and join in the festive atmosphere.
The game started at a snail’s pace and with a referee who felt the need to explain every decision in extreme detail, I soon realized my points bet was in trouble. Argentina got a fortunate intercept try just before halftime and when they got within 7 points of delivering my bet I started to believe. There was still plenty of time on the clock when they scored a 2nd try, only to miss what looked a relatively straight forward conversion which would have seen my bet arrive.
As the game drew to a close Argentina swept up field and scored what looked like a stunning try. This score would likely have resulted in the Boks losing, but at this point all I could think about was my bet although I did manage to restrain myself and resisted celebrating the score amongst the horde of Boks supporters.
A minute or two later I also forced a fake smile as the try was disallowed for a very dubious obstruction call early in the move. My bet lost by the narrowest of margins, but thanks to some great hospitality and the chance to spend some quality time with my son I would still call myself a winner on the day.
Twitter: @BrentGraham
This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 22 August 2019.
Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and sends a free weekly e-mail list just CLICK HERE to register