AA Explained

It is 7 May 2014. The sun is breaking through the clouds as the crowds cheer in antcipation of the referee's whistle to start yet another Political Rugby World Cup Final.  The crowd roars as the teams run out. The Mostly Whites are led by Hendrik Verwoerd and takes position on the right side of the stadium. The 15 men are rearing to go.

Then to huge applause the Mostly Blacks exits the tunnel, led by Jacob Zuma. The referee Mr Aabee Bbbee seems oblivious to the fact that Zuma's team is fielding 45 players, 3 times more than the Mostly Whites.  They are taking advantage of the obscure rule introduced by the World Political Rugby Board that makes provision for extra players of colour.

With both teams in position, the referee signals the kickoff. Jan Van Riebeeck gives it a solid thump with the left boot and kicks it into the southwestern corner. With the mostly blacks milling around on the east side, Paul Kruger picks up the ball after a long chase and dives for an uncompeted try under the crossbeam. 5-0. Kicking duty goes to Andries Pretorius, who makes no mistake. 7-0.

The teams reassemble in the middle of the field. Zuma sends off a player, and making use of the new WPRB rules replaces him with 46 new players. Shaka gets the kick-off and sends the ball towards the northeast. Pretorius and Retief gives chase, but Dingaan performs a high tackle on Retief. Silence overcomes the crowd as the referee stops the game and Retief remains motionless on the field. A stretcher arrives, and a motionless Retief is carried off the field. The slumped shoulders of the Mostly Whites paints a tragic picture.

The penalty is taken by Pretorius and he decides to go for the scrum. With 14 men, the ruck is formed against  the Mostly Blacks.  The Mostly Whites are too strong, and they push the mostly blacks over the touchline. It is clear that the Mostly Whites are playing a much more modern game, while the Mostly Blacks are going gor a more tribal gameplan.  Regardless, the lineout is formed and the Mostly Whites can throw in.  Zuma uses the opportunity to make another replacement, with 1 man going off and 46 men coming on.

The throw in is secure and finds Delarey.  He makes a quick pass to Louis Botha who runs through for the second try. The referee looks at his watch as Pretorius runs forward and boots the ball between the uprights. 14-0. The whistle signals halftime.

The game resumes with Shaka kicking a shallow kick. Hendrik Verwoerd is in a perfect position under the ball, but  a player storms at him and hits him at speed in the abdomen. Verwoerd gets up and signals he will play on. The duty to kick into touch is handed to Vorster. He gives it a solid punt and the ball rolls out a metre before the try line. Tambo throws in, but the ball is taken by Botha who quickly passes to Diederichs for another try. Pretorius kicks over. 21-0.

Shaka gives a sweeping kick to the north. Verwoerd takes position under the ball, but is thumped in the stomach by an offside Tsafendas. Verwoerd drops motionless to the floor. As the medics are frantically running onto the field, the referee hands Tsafendas a red card. Verwoerd is carried off the field.

Vorster takes over as captain and decides to go for the run. He gives the ball a light tap, then passes it onto Pieter Botha. Botha makes a daring run for the try line, but has to dodge a barrage of bottles and stones being thrown onto the field. The mostly Blacks do not seem to have any gameplan, and seems to want to disrupt gameplay with dirty tricks.  De Klerk storms at Botha from an offside position and forcibly yanks the ball out of his hands. The referee blows for the penalty, but redcards Botha and hands possession to De Klerk.

Without thinking, De Klerk quickly hands the ball to Mandela, who kicks for touch. Treurnicht picks up the ball just short of his 25m and passes to Viljoen. The referee's whistle blows and he redcards Treurnicht for passing forward. Mandela goes for touch again, but this time the ball is picked up by Hartzenberg who passes to Derby-Lewis. Derby-Lewis runs into Hani with the shoulder, supported by Wallusz. The referee signals  a penalty and red cards are handed to both Wallusz and Derby-Lewis.

Without warning, Van Schalkwyk and Hanekom leads a few players from the Mostly Whites to join the Mostly Blacks. By now the Mostly Blacks outnumber the Mostly Whites 10 to 1. The game takes on a new dimension as the hapless Mostly Whites are redcarded one after the other. Every achievement of the Mostly Whites are met with either a red or yellow card. The Mostly Blacks turn in to increasingly violent players with more and more Mostly Whites players leaving the field on stretchers.  There is a very small contigent of the crowd protesting, but the referee and the International touch judges ignore their pleas. The game continues....