Almost 30 years ago, I was the youngest player in a Western Province team that played a game against the touring British & Irish Lions.
A great honour and huge occasion for me, we lost, quite badly in fact, but the atmosphere was immense. Their team was almost the exact Test team and it was a huge highlight of my career.
10 minutes after the final whistle, we had spoken in our change-room circle, praised the gods of rugby, thanked each other and started to dissect the game.
There was a knock at the change-room door. One of the coaches opened up and the massive frame of Jason Leonard, British & Irish Lions Test legend and England record holder for most forward caps, was standing there with a big smile on his face, a jersey tucked under his arm and two beers in his hand. He asked, “Can you show me where Bob Skinstad sits?”
I was close enough to the door to walk across and say, “Well, I’m Bob and I can show you!”
He put a beer in my hand and walked over to my part of the changing room and sat down. “I brought you a gift” – his Lions jersey from the match. I still have it.
I was starstruck and tried to give him my Western Province jersey in return, but he refused.
“I’m an old fella now and it’s my opportunity to meet young players who are gonna be part of the game for a long time – keep this and as you get older, when you get a chance, pass on the baton. You can give away jerseys in other change rooms around the world, it’s part of the journey, my friend.”
An amazing lesson and certainly something that led me to seeking out Jason many years later. I was retired and ended up helping do some work for his now very famous Atlas Foundation rugby charity.
Jason has become a firm friend, and we get on like a house on fire.
More importantly, it’s a friendship that was borne from a rugby tour (and a special person), and it’s a reason that I always talk about how important tours are for the game.
This game is special – it’s the closest thing to a war or a fight, with rules, where you can still respect your opponent, even though you want to beat the living daylights out of each other!
Rugby spread around the world because of boarding schools and army barracks in foreign parts of the world, so lots of people who have been doing national service or at schools far away have fallen in love with the game.
Tours are similar, far from home but proud and ready to fight for your country’s honour, you are still in a good state of mind to assess a worthy opponent.
Traditional tours like what we have in front of us with Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry fell away with the advent of professionalism and the chasing of big-ticket, play-off-style encounters for the national team.
David and Goliath encounters where national teams would take on provincial outfits have become almost extinct.
The best part of our Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry is that there are not only games midweek, but it’s the structure of those fixture lists.
All Blacks v Stormers. All Blacks v Sharks. All Black v Bulls. All Black v Lions.
History will show us that there are many players who come through the local provincial system that are outstanding in their position. Huge potential and really effective with what they do, that might never be able to play for the Springboks, let alone against the All Blacks.
This is not to judge any of these players because the Stormers are a fantastic outfit, but the odds are against all of them getting a number of chances in (Test) matches against the New Zealand national team. That’s just a fact.
This amazing tour sets that right, it gives them a chance to shine against some of the best in the world and certainly our greatest rival.
We all want a chance against the greatest and biggest obstacle and a crack at becoming the best that they can be.
Many Test encounters fade into the cloudier parts of memory.
However, a tour with its sequential timetable and midweek fixtures to smaller, less well-known parts of South Africa changes the recollections.
It opens up not only access to the All Blacks and their amicable, genial, fun-loving ways.
Also access for the All Blacks because they visit places they might never have gone.
A Tuesday or Wednesday night against a spirited local team in a smaller town or part of South Africa can be its own massive (Test).
A local hero slotting penalties or skipping through for a try certainly focuses the mind when you thought that this might be just a training run.
Some hard work against those teams is gonna be as difficult as the Springboks themselves.
Part of why I’m delighted that the tour format is back is that I’ve travelled far and wide in New Zealand as both a player and a commentator. I’d love to do it again; it is the most fantastic, hospitable, rugby-crazy country around.
It certainly rivals South Africa in terms of where they hold the respect and love for their national team.
Aotearoa does pack a real punch in terms of hospitality, geographic diversity and ‘wow’ moments during a visit. Rugged coastlines, snow-capped mountains and waves peeling off a black-sand beach are all mind pictures from my trips there, magnificently beautiful.
I’m certain that the fans in New Zealand are quite jealous of the support for the structure that Rassie Erasmus has given to the programme of developing rugby players in South Africa.
They see a plan, they see a development programme and they see young talent turning into modern-day Springboks, and a depth chart to be proud of.
This tour will give them some insights into those programmes and the players that they might meet in the future.
I’m excited on the opposite end because when South Africa go back to New Zealand and play not only the provinces or NPC sides, we too will see the talent of the future.
No doubt they’ll play against the next Richie McCaw, Ardie Savea or perhaps uncover a Barrett brother-type combination that scares us for the skill they might bring to the game in the future.
So much to look forward to, and so much to enjoy. Grab your tickets, don’t miss the midweek and provincial matches and let’s celebrate Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry together.
Long live the Tour – let’s get at them. Go Stormers!!
