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Artificial crowd during the Super Fan Saturday match between Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on September 26, 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi / Gallo Images)
Perhaps the mere novelty of watching competitive rugby play again helped, but by the end of Super Fan Saturday, the lack of supporters at Loftus was almost forgotten by viewers.
From an outsider’s perspective, it also seemed like the players were adjusting reasonably well as well.
But the four South African Super Rugby captains clearly noted a common trend: the experience was “different.”
This is what each of them had to say.
SIYA KOLISI (STORMERS)
When we warmed up, some of us still felt like we were training until we started to feel our lungs and we thought, “Ha, ons is tog op Loftus vandag!”
It was very hard.
Even when you’re playing outside, you miss the talk with the fans, the jokes when you sit on the bench.
But it also reminds you that you should never take for granted how important followers are and how special it is to have them.
It was also good because it was neutral ground for all teams.
DUANE VERMEULEN (BULLS)
In advance, we tell ourselves that we should concentrate on what we have to do and not worry about anything else.
But I must say that it was a different feeling to go out and you don’t really hear any kind of noise.
There is nothing in the stands. You can really hear a penny drop if someone actually did it. It’s a small change.
An atmosphere makes playing more enjoyable and recharges you, gives you energy. Now you can even hear the coaches yelling at you from the box!
You know exactly where you need to be and what to do. For us, it was just a matter of focusing on ourselves.
ELTON JANTJIES (LIONS)
We mentally prepare ourselves and when we run out to do some practice exercises, we get used to the atmosphere.
It was certainly different and that places additional responsibility on our shoulders to feed off the energy of others and communicate effectively.
This is how rugby will be for the foreseeable future and we have embraced it.
It was actually nice to be even more dependent on each other. It helps you bond.
LUKHANYO AM (SHARKS)
It was a different experience, but that didn’t really matter to us because we were so excited to come back and play again.
Things on the rugby side didn’t go our way, but we’re really happy to be back in the park.
– Compiled by Heinz Schenk
