Reuters

Richard Levi.

DO you remember old Tjokkie and Crispin? For those who don’t, it’s a real pity. Because these two blokes from the comedy Heel against the Head were die-hard, biltong-eating, rugby-loving South African sports fans whose adventures while travelling to the Rugby World Cup in Wales in 1999 was told in a unique South African way.

The late Bill Flynn, of course, played Tjokkie and Paul Slabolepszy was Crispin. A comedy duet made in heaven. Their passion for the “Bokke”, as Flynn shouts on numerous occasions during the movie, has always led me to look out for the South African contingent in the crowd on my travels.

In England in 2009, at the World Twenty20, there was a sizable group, considering the number of “Saffas” in the United Kingdom. And during the following year’s World T20 in the West Indies, I latched on to a group led passionately by a “Grant”. For the purposes of this piece, Grant has no last name, as he surely lost it a few times in the Caribbean.

But there’s been nobody close to Tjokkie and Crispin yet, until Ruben and Gary introduced themselves to me. Again, last names not required.

Now these two boys – they’re actually men, though their deeds challenge that theory on occasion – are South African expatriates living in Auckland. They made the road trip from “die stad na die plaas” (the city to the farm), because Hamilton’s a lot like Paarl, which is why I can’t quite understand why former Bok coach Peter de Villiers has called it “boring”, because the last time I checked he still lived in Paarl.

But back to Ruben and Gary, who hail from Athlone on the Cape Flats and Gelvandale in Port Elizabeth. Now these boys love the Proteas, and that’s not because they have each had a couple of swigs of the local lager and a bit of old Uncle Jack. They simply love the Proteas. They might reside in Manukau and Papatoetoe, but home will always remain home.

And that is why I was so happy on Sunday night in the “boring” little town of Hamilton when Richard Levi put on a batting extravaganza. From Levi’s first six, it was as if the young Proteas opener had come to entertain Ruben and Gary only.

Ruben, decked in Proteas kit gathered from SA players who previously toured New Zealand, waved his Rainbow Nation flag with pride. Levi saw to it that he waved it another dozen times, and at the end of the game, Gary was walking with a bigger grin than Levi himself.

For all the hype surrounding the support the All Blacks and New Zealand Super Rugby teams get back in Cape Town, on the evidence of Hamilton – and we haven’t even reached Eden Park yet! – there are certainly enough Garys and Rubens here to rival that group.

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Richard Ernst Levi. A name – okay, not the Ernst part – that has been on the lips of South Africans all week. Nobody can seem to get enough of the kid. It also seems IPL franchises are now falling over themselves to sign the former Wynberg boy.

It’s actually quite funny watching those mega-rich owners now falling over themselves for the world-record holder. Just two weeks ago, Levi went unsold in the first auction. A certain IPL coach even begged his employers to sign the 24-year-old on a minimum $25 000 contract. Nobody listened to that sound advice, and now Levi’s base price could be closer to $400 000 than $40 000!

TWEET OF THE WEEK

@DaleSteyn62 (Proteas fast bowler on his way to New Zealand): Sydney ... Sleeping 2night is gana b a biiiaaaaatch.... Ahh jet lag stay away.

WHO TO FOLLOW

@Martyguptill: New Zealand opening batsman.

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