I started playing rugby at the age of 7 when that and cricket was the only male sport the school I was at had (this was pre-1994 election). So all the boys played rugby in the winter, and cricket in the summer.
Then when I was 10, it was the 1995 Rugby World Cup. And my dad managed to get us tickets for the Scotland vs. France match at Loftus Versfeld, which was the closest stadium from where we lived (about 300km north of Pretoria). It was my first trip to a rugby match and a big stadium. We drove the day before the match, stayed at friends of my Mom who lived across from the stadium that time (before the houses were demolished and turned into offices.
The day of the match, we went to the training field next to the stadium, where they had a stage setup, and an area for the the kids to play and so on. Around 14:00 my dad introduced me and my brothers to a friend of his, who was the Blue Bulls legal representative at the time, and he told us that we can go into the stadium with him (he arranged the tickets for us).
We sat on the East pavillion about 5 rows from the front. It was an exciting match to watch, and for a kid it was a lot of fun hearing how my dad and his friend tried to pronounce the french players names and surnames in their very strong Afrikaans accent. Then Emile Ntamack scored that last minute try right in front of us, and the whole stadium erupted in excitement.
That feeling of pure joy and excitement along with everyone around us also cheering was the thing that hooked me. And that's also where my love of Loftus Versfeld started. Since then I've seen some memorable matches at the Venue. Like the B&I Lions 2009 tour 2nd match against the Springboks. The Bulls vs. Chiefs Super Rugby Final. The Bulls vs. Crusaders Super Rugby Semi-final. And a couple of matches between SA and Australia.
