It’s hardly a coincidence that when the Vodacom United Rugby Championship returns after a break of just over a month, it does so with a proper South African derby. If there’s one thing South African rugby players love more than winning Rugby World Cups, then it’s beating the living biltong out of each other in their derbies.
So on Saturday 29 November, Loftus Versfeld will usher in South African Derby Season with the clash between the Vodacom Bulls and the Lions in what the hosts are billing as “Braai, Bulls, Boks!”. The last involving the Springboks’ Test against Wales in Cardiff on the same day.
Whether you call it North versus South, the Jukskei Derby, the Coastal Derby, The Battle of the Boerewors Curtain, or even the old Banana Boys versus the Streeptruie – the South African derbies bring out the true competitive fire in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
They’ve consistently set attendance records for the entire competition. In fact, the inherent strength of the derby culture in South African rugby is exactly what the Vodacom United Rugby Championship decided to stake its biggest gamble on – getting an insanely passionate rugby nation that’s been playing this game as a winter sport since Winston Churchill was trying to avoid capture in Pretoria to do the unthinkable, and play rugby in the summer.
The success of festive season rugby in South Africa over December is purely down to the fans’ appetite for derby rugby. And if it feels different for the fans, it feels just as different for the players. The players – and coaches – now often refer to the “Test match atmosphere” of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship derbies.
“Rivalries and derby games are massive in South Africa. I think those are the hardest games of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. I think the emphasis on the derby games has been increased in this competition. They are always good games to watch. It’s very rarely a runaway or easy game. It’s a good rivalry and as a player these big derby games are what you look forward to,” says Vodacom Bulls stalwart Marco van Staden.
Before he left these shores, former Lions captain Marius Louw came away from a particularly bruising and thrilling derby against the Vodacom Bulls and spoke like he’d just spent 80 minutes in rugby heaven – even though his team narrowly lost this clash.
“That’s why we play this game. Flippin unbelievable. Up and down emotions. Down to the wire. Unbelievable crowd. Goosebump stuff. What an arm wrestle. It’s such a privilege to play this game,” he said.
DHL Stormers talisman Deon Fourie recalled how, “I grew up in Polokwane. I can remember since I was little going to Loftus Versfeld and watching these derby games and they were always the biggest – pulling the crowds and all the emotions around them. I think it’s just ingrained in our DNA as South Africans to really compete in the derbies.”
Fellow DHL Stormers star Evan Roos declared of the derbies, “It’s always good hard rugby. There is never anything ugly about it. It’s just a proper rugby match with both teams going at each other full tilt, and that’s also what South Africans enjoy watching. I think it’s just ingrained in our DNA as South Africans to really compete in the derbies.”
And the Vodacom Bulls’ Marcell Coetzee had perhaps the most succinct summary of what the derbies mean to him: “It’s always personal”.
With the Vodacom Bulls taking on the Lions at the end of November, followed by the DHL Stormers against the Lions, and the Hollywoodbets Sharks against the Vodacom Bulls in December, it’s about to get a whole lot more personal on South African rugby fields this festive season.
