RWC likes & dislikes

The 2011 Rugby World Cup – the wonderful Rugby World Cup – is thousands of kilometres from me and so I sit glued to the television set.

My view of the World Cup is through the eyes of the television camera. And I have watched every minutes of every match so far 40 in all, from New Zealand v Tonga to Ireland v Italy.

And I am loving it and thought I should put down some of my favourite things as we look ahead to the quarterfinals.

Favourite things:

1. The rugby and the performances of so-call minnows who do not deserve to be called minnows or labelled this tier nor that tier. They are worthy rugby teams representing a country and they have been doing better than they have ever done in past World Cups.

2. The fans – the colourful, cheerful, happy fans – the painted faces, the singing, the waving of the flags, the cheering, the inclusiveness. No team has been left to play alone. 2011 has built on 1995, 2003 and 2007 and taken it to a new level.

The French fans with their inventive hats – roosters and frogs.

3. The choir. The singing of the anthems has been perfect and has encouraged the players and their countries to sing along, heads back, mouths open wide. That is a best-ever at a World Cup.

4. Mario Ledesma with the tears rolling down his face.

5. The excited count down to the kick-off – FIVE – FOUR – THREE – TWO – ONE… and cheer as the whistle blows.

6. The camera work, clearly by men who know their rugby, and the commentaries, clearly by men who know and love their rugby.

7. The sudden, short trumpet burst of paso doble and the cheer that follows – and the fond memories of France 2007.

8. The voices of Matthew Pearce, Tony Johnson and Stuart Barnes.

9. The return of Murray Mexted, flirting with the hem of naughtiness.

10. The ceremonies, including the bugled welcome by men with popping eyes, long tongues and tattooed arses. The 9/11 emotion, the care for those who have suffered in disasters, man-made and natural.

11. The drama of the Haka, Cibi, Sipi Tau and Siva Tau.

12. The Tongans facing the Haka, nodding and saying ‘Come’.

13. The manners of the players. When last have you seen so many players bend to help an opponent up off the ground? It has been a regular feature of the matches? When last have you seen such acceptance of refereeing decisions? Even the props have stopped shaking their heads. Three cheers for the players and all officials!

14. The amount of information pouring forth from the World Cup, surpassing whatever happened before.

15. All in all, the obvious hospitality, friendliness and cheerfulness of the New Zealanders, such nice people.

Unfavourite things:

Even in the Garden of Eden there was the unhappy presence of the snake – so small in the midst of such abundant good. So, too, there have been some things at the World Cup you would rather were not there.

1. Longer turnarounds for the haves, short turnarounds for the havenots and then pitting have against havenots. An equal-opportunity tournament would be preferable.

2. Booing. It’s such an ugly sound, so disrespectful, so unsporting. There are even attempts to put off kickers kicking at goal. mind you, some kickers have put themselves off without any help.

3. The streaker. He’s not good enough to play but seems to think that taking off his clothes gives him the right to intrude onto an area sacred to great players.

4. Comments men who talk too much, make infallible pronouncements and get it wrong.

5. The mispronouncing of players’ names. Names are important they are the expression of person. Who are you? ‘I’m Piet van Zyl.’ My name defines my person and deserves the sort of respect that Bill McLaren gave players’ names.

We had the mangling of Namibian names in their first match even though names like Botha, Du Toit, Van Wyk and Van Zyl have been in Southern African rugby for more than a century and should be known by now, and names like Redelinghuys and Geldenhuys can easily be learnt. Willie would not have liked his surname made into Loser and so others do not like the Wick and Sail versions of their name. And Jacques does not rhyme with flux. Italians and Argentinians suffer as well. Vergallo, for example, is not pronounced to rhyme with aloe or callow.

6. England numbers. That England usurped the All Blacks’ all black was bad enough but then their numbers became tatty and unreadable. In their second match they became all whites and again the numbers were difficult was they, like the jersey were white but for a thin black outline.

7. Kapo o Pango. Much as one loves the drama of the Haka one is not too sure of the throat-slitter though. It seems like hate speech.

By Paul Dobson

* What are YOUR favourite – or not so favourite – things from the 2011 Rugby World Cup so far? Let us know below!