Springbok fans boycott over-politicised 2011 rugby jersey | The ...

Springbok fans boycott over-politicised 2011 rugby jersey by Tamas S. Kiss Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 While the black government of South Africa is looking for a single insignia to unite all sports under one umbrella it is in fact causing a greater divide in the population, where Rugby players and supporters are allegedly boycotting the purchases of the overpriced (recomended retail price of ZAR 600!! -when the minimum monthly wage is about ZAR 1,600) IRB 2011 Rugby World Cup national “Springbok” jersey -simply because it does not have their beloved Springbok (national animal) emblem on the chest near the heart. Instead it now has the king protea (the national flower of South Africa).of their team. “This is supposed to be the gear of our twice world champion Springbok team and instead only a klein springbok emblem has been placed on the left arm sleeve,” <a href="http://www.nfljerseys-supply.com/"><strong>NFL jerseys wholesale</strong></a> said 56-year-old Morne van der Merwe, who has supported the Springboks since he remembers. “It’s all about politics. The black government believes that the Springbok is the symbol of Apartheid, that utter rubbish.” He added, “Apartheid didn’t even exist when the Springbok name and emblem <a href="http://www.nfljerseys-supply.com/"><strong> NFL jerseys cheap</strong></a> were embraced by captain Paul Roos (see black and white insert- with Springbok insignia on chest) and his boys in 1906 on tour of the British Isles.” He said that he has started a campaign to boycott purchases of the new rugby jersey, calling for real Springbok to don their old jerseys, where the Springbok is still located on the front. “The Protea has already been adopted by the cricket world but rugby is a different genre,” says van der Merwe. The fate of the 2011 New Zealand Rugby World Cup (due in September this year) version of the myrtle green and gold collar South African jersey was decided by the South African Rugby Union (SARU). In a statement SARU said “Government guidelines determine that the official South African sports emblem – the protea (note there is no mention of the springbok!!!) – be placed on the left side of the chest on national sports jerseys. The decision pushed the beloved springbok away from the chest to the left arm sleeve (see picture. SARU had the option from the International Rugby Board (IRB), to choose only one insignia as the IRB reserved the right side of the chest of the jersey for its own logo (almost sounds like FIFA) on all team jerseys at the 2011 games. The South African government reportedly found “no place” for the world’s allegedly most famous rugby badge, so they decided to reduce its size and send it to exile on the left arm. In 1994 radical African National Congress party (ANC) members tried to convince President Nelson Mandela to abolish <a href="http://www.xinzhouba.com/view.php?id=17671"><strong>Google Plus Has A Problem. Fear Not: I Have A Solution | TechCrunch</strong></a> the Springbok because it “represents Apartheid.” The savvy Mandela declined their ridiculous request and by doing so helped build national unity in the newly established democratic South Africa where blacks and whites all supported the Springboks, who won the IRB World Cup in 1995. They repeated their victory in France in 2007 and are currently the reigning world champions.