Fans Forever

The title of this blog should really be called "Nailing your colours to the mast".  The owner of this little cafe can't be anything other than a Province rugby follower.  Rugby is the national winter sport in South Africa and if you live  here you are, by default, a Province fan through thick and thin.   And, sometimes it seems to be though a great deal more thin than thick.

I caught a glimpse of bright blue and white stripes as I was driving through the small light industial area of a nearby town called Kleinmond and made a mental note to return and investigate at a later date when the weather was sunny.  The colors of Province are white and blue and its emblem is the Red Disa, one of South Africa's most beautiful fynbos flowers.

The owner also seems to be a keen gardener and the colorful annuals planted out in the various striped blue and white containers would indicate an interesting and perhaps quirky character.  I would love to know who worked to make this inviting scene and I must get up the courage to revisit and make the acquaintance of the owner. 

The "S" on the washtub in the above picture stands for Stormers, which is what the Cape Town team is called once the Annual Super 9 Rugby League Tournament commences.  This team draws not only from Cape Town but from the whole of the Cape region, when the various franchises from all the different provinces, as well as teams from Australia and New Zealand, compete against each other in the spirit of sportsmanship and ferocious rivalry.  Traditional enemies (apart naturally from Oz and New Zealand) are the Kwa-Zulu Sharks and the Blue Bulls from Pretoria.

There are a fair number of ex-Gautengers living in the Cape whose enthusiasm and devotion to their team knows no limit.  You can always tell a Blue Bull fan by the huge blue flags, complete with bull horn logo, fluttering from car roof and windows, as well as the interesting variety of headgear decorated with said bull horns.  Not that the Stormers are any less adorned in variants of blue and white and, in true South African spirit, both lots of fans fire up the traditional braais outside the stadium before the matches, when  boerewors and beer are obligatory - nothing as girlie as steak, salads and wine.



Here in the peaceful country, however, the Province / Stormers potplants are staging a quiet  takeover of  the space of the business next door - wish I had a neighbour who would surprise me with some stealth gardening!