#faf de klerk

[orsacchiotto-rugbista]

[im-adrienne]

Insomnia watching South Africa vs Australia rugby.

First thought was “Where the fuck is Faf de Hair?!?”

[necrosiseyes]

This guy, (Faf de Klerk, the one getting thrown) but as Thorfinn from Vinland Saga…

I feel like this should be an au ✨rugby player thorfinn✨

[superbeans89]

No one:

Faf de Klerk:

[jackiekeswick]

I have no connection to South Africa. I'm just a Faf de Klerk fangirl. And a bit gutted right now.

[defensefilms]

South African Rugby Champions Go Back-To-Back

I'll admit off the bat, that I am the most casual rugby fan in the world, and by many fans standards, I am the worst type of fan because I am a Springboks supporter.

Don't let that take away from what this South African team just accomplished though, and to help you understand the context under which this team is representing the country, is a task that can't be accomplished in one blog post.

South Africa is a country with an economy that is dying and the gap in wealth inequality is getting bigger and bigger, with an infastructure that is falling apart, and a government unable to manage the administrative, financial headaches of governance.

Basically, these Springboks are the only good thing happening in South Africa.

Packed in to the pre-meal, and way before any of these current players was ever a Springbok, is the history of South Africa itself and what the Springboks represented for the ruling Apartheid government pre-1994, and the liberation of Black South Africans since.

This is not a piece to sway people in to believing in the Springboks as a story of racial intergration and tranformation.

Rather something to help you understand the kind of hurdles every player on the team deals with, and the amount of personal discipline it takes to always put the team and winning first.

In the years to come, books will be written about how these guys had to pull together even in the most trying of times, and Siya Kholisi as the captain of a team that has accomplished the greatest feat in the sport's history.

To help you understand what this team has accomplished, South Africa came in to the 2023 Rugby World Cup as defending champions after winning the 2019 World Cup, only lost 1 game the entire tournament, and won our last 3 games all by 1 point margins.

This is not a Rugby team. This is sporting greatness and excellence. They'll go down as legends of the sport. All of them, every member of both the 2019 and 2023 squads.

Every one of these players had big moments in big games and situations where we absolutely needed it.

Handre Pollard's cool headedness was evident throughout the tournament, with his kick to win the semi-final against England being his most immense.

Eben Etzebeth setting the tone with physicality, always promptly followed by Mbongeni Mbonambi, Franco Mostert and Duane Vermeulen, Ox Nche, Deon Fourie and Kwagga Smith, and this group changed the game in that semi-final.

Pieter-Steph Du Toit's man of the match performance in the final was arguably the best any Springbok has ever played in a final. Cheslin Kolbe's charge down and block against France. Manie Libbok's sublime no-look kick against Scotland.

Everyone had big moments or big performances at key times.

I have grown attached to this team in a way I have never been attached to a Rugby team.

South Africa's 1995 World Cup victory represented the intention to change with the inclusion of the legendary Chester Williams. In 2007 it was a story of how that change had bred a new generation of winners represented by Byran Habana. The 2019 World Cup in Japan represented a transformation complete with the champions being captained by a Black player for the first time.

This however is not a chapter of the story that needs a transformation narrative.

As a group these players have transcended that. They represent the pinnacle of the sport. The highest level of achievement possible, and our heach coach Rassie Erasmus, the man who masteminded both our victories, all the while challenging the sports's conventions, pushing boundraries, and always keeping the Boks one step ahead.

Growing up Bryan Habana was the most recognisable player in the sport, and I even have a photograph I took of him on my Instagram, but this group, and this captain, with those forwards and those wings, yeah they've now surpassed any South African team, and that's no easy thing to do.

Even more difficult than that is restoring some feeling of national pride at a time when it's becoming harder to create reasons for that.

Thank you to the Boks, they will never be forgotten.

[enjolraspermettendo]

Rugby athlete Grantaire

[singsweetmelodies]

your mom being a springbok supporter omg I love that😭 would u consider writing fics about them tho ?🇿🇦

morning anon! ohhh, great question - but i'm afraid it's going to have to be a no, for various reasons. firstly because, well, i simply don't know enough about rugby or about the team... my mum might be a big rugby fan but i'm not, really. i only ever watch 2 or 3 matches once every four years for the world cup 🥲

secondly, even if i did know more about rugby, i would still have to say no because my writer's block is currently so bad that it's even extending to my PhD. (🤣😭) in all seriousness though, i can't write anything of quality at the moment, and the second i do get my writing mojo back, i have a whole list of f1 rpf fics that i need and want to get to.

sorry to disappoint, love! but i hope this answers your question 🥰

[cowboykakashi]

SOUTH AFRICA WON THE WORLD CUP AGAIN POST ASS POST ASS !!!!!!!!!!

[heavenbarnes]

absolutely fucking devastated

[sacharowan]

marc as the world's most annoying scrum half is an excellent take, no notes

thank you he would be so perfect for the role

[e5e5e5e5e5]

So, the US sport philosophy is raise the stakes fuck their retirement.

The Aussie philosophy is make them run more fuck their ankles.

The Kiwis land somewhere in the middle.

The car crash won't hurt so bad if both of you are totally gassed.

And you'll be gassed from making 50 tackles in 60 minutes if you're working hard enough.

[jackiekeswick]

Today, I've watched more TV than I usually do in four months! Still. I finally got my first Faf de Klerk fix in over two years...

[krazykitsune]

I genuinely cannot stress how much this lives rent free in my head. Literally anyone mentions Marchand in any context this is what I am immediately thinking of.

Every time Brad Marchand licks someone else, all I picture in my head is the “taste of a liar” scene in Part 5 of JoJo.

[telecommunikate]

yooo i'm not the original anon but i am Very intruiged by the motogp rugby crossover... idk enough abt rugby to do anything abt it but the vision is sooooo there !!!!

come join meeeee! <3 one of the best things about that ask is finding out more people know/watch rugby than expected! one of the benefits of watching a european based sport i guess hahaha

confession, i know very little about the Actual Rules(TM) of rugby, i've just been watching it my entire life because hashtag kiwi. i've said it before, my knowledge of rugby is like my knowledge of english grammar, innate but don't ask me to explain it.....

i think it's just interesting to try translate across to a sport that is pretty different in execution to motogp! would have to suspend belief a little bit in terms of physical size for some of the riders because.... yeah..... thinking of the props that are 2.5x the size of marc/jorge/enea. but then again! they're not completely out of the realm of possibility. i mean, faf de klerk is barely taller than them, they'd just have to put on like 15kg of muscle lmao

much to think about! all i know for certain, i cannot imagine myself assigning prop to any of them lmao