Michael Corcoran's Final South Africa Blog

Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in Robben Island, off Cape Town, from 1964 until 1982 when he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison until his release on the 11^th of February 1990.

After his release he worked tirelessly to promote peace and harmony in this Country and he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his great efforts.

On the 18^th of July 2009 he will celebrate his 91^st birthday. He is truly a remarkable man.

In recognition of the part he played in the life of South Africa, the Springboks wore his last prisoner number, 46664, on the sleeves of their rugby shirts when going into battle. It certainly did inspire them.

I’m not so sure Bakkies Botha has played, or will play, the same part in the life of South Africa as Nelson Mandela. That’s why I cannot understand the gesture by the SA players yesterday to wear an armband with the words, “justices” or “Bakkies” in solidarity with the suspended Botha.

For the record, Botha was found guilty of dangerously charging into a ruck without binding on a player during the second test in Pretoria, he was given a 2 week suspension. He appealed, the appeal was heard, the appeal was unsuccessful.

Others have been cited and suspended in the past, they take their punishment and move on.

If the players and management feel that strongly about it, take it up with the SA Rugby Union and let them take it up with the IRB. That’s how these things work. A spokesman for the SA players association says, “player’s participation in world rugby events could be affected by the actions of judicial officers”.

Perhaps they might consider re-wording that to say that “players participation could be affected by players actions”, after all the judicial officers are implementing the laws of the game.

In any sport when you are champions there comes a certain responsibility with it, you have to behave like champions, with dignity and respect. When questioned at the post-match conference about the gesture, Springbok captain John Smit simply referred to a statement issued on the players behalf before kick off and would not answer any further questions on the subject.

I wonder who is calling the shots here? The players? The Union? One cannot help feel it’s certainly not the coach.

As we leave the 2009 Lions Tour behind, we can reflect on some competitive games played over the last few weeks.

Congrats to the Springboks on winning the series but I cannot help but feel the class of 2009 left the series behind them.

The opening 40 minutes in Durban cost the Lions dearly and ultimately may have lost them the series; it’s just a personal opinion.

If you take away the large number, tens of thousands, of travelling supporters from the Test venues, it begs the question, where have all the home supporters gone?

It was puzzling to watch the Springboks doing a lap of honour at Ellis Park yesterday after they were presented with the trophy, they did so to a stadium largely populated by Lions fans.

On a final note, this series marked the end of an era in journalism. Peter Jackson has being covering rugby for 53 years, mostly for the Daily Mail, and is touring with the Lions for the 12^th time.

Born in Derry, he was honoured by colleagues from all over the world along with Lions management at a function in Johannesburg on Thursday night. Many will agree he set the pace for all aspiring journalists and personally I have always enjoyed his company and his razor sharp wit.

Enjoy your retirement “Jacko”, you deserve it and so do the rest of us.