The Overseas Based Fan

There has been so much written about the overseas based player, but what about the overseas based FAN!? Does the overseas based fan have the same bragging rights as the fans back home in South Africa? Are the fans in South Africa more eligible to shout for the Boks than those based overseas? Here’s a look at what it’s like supporting the Boks from abroad…

Living abroad is fun, exciting and lonely all at the same time. Having a base of friends that come from South Africa helps, but even braais, boerewors, biltong and a £1.40 can of Crème Soda doesn’t help when you’re really missing home!

The recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa has been televised every single day in the UK and has put South Africa on the map! Seeing home on TV every day brings both pride and longing. Proud that your beautiful country is being showcased and longing to be home so that you can soak up the atmosphere with your family and friends.

Unfortunately Bafana Bafana, with as much progress as they have made under Carlos Alberto Parreira, are not our most dominant sporting force. When you mention “South African sports” and “world beaters” in the same sentence, only one sporting code and name springs to mind - Rugby and the Springboks.

The Springboks are more than just a national rugby team. They are a brand and an identity, and take the hopes of a nation on to the field of play in every match. None more so than the hopes, pride and identity of the many South Africans living abroad who revel in the camaraderie, friendship and pride of being South African when the Boks play!

Fewer days are better than when you are kitted out in Green and Gold after watching the Boks beat the opposition at Murrayfield, the Millennium Stadium or Twickenham. When you wear your team’s colours, you not only show support for them but are representing your country as a fan. Your behaviour in losing and in winning counts towards the image of the Boks.

On a recent visit to the Millennium Stadium to watch the Boks vs Wales, just before half time the Boks found themselves trailing 16 -3. A welsh lady turned to me and said, “You know you’re still going to win.”

Either this was pure negativity from the Welsh or immense respect for the World Champions - I’d like to think it’s the latter, either way she was right. The Springboks are the most dominant force in World Rugby at the moment although our Kiwi neighbours would argue otherwise. The Tri Nations is sure to settle that debate.

As a Bok fan and a South African living in the UK, I can safely say that the end of year tour is highly anticipated by the many Saffers living here. It will bring a time to celebrate being South African and in a small way it will be a time to feel at home again!