Sport migrations emerge within a general migratory context. In some societies, like the Pacific Islands, adulthood, particularly for men, cannot be completed unless one migrates.
Once the stuff of tweeting birds and rolling cartoon eyes, bumps on the head are now linked to dementia. Will Smith’s latest movie tells how sports authorities tried to cover it up.
The psyche of defeat is linked to various things: the team’s maturity, captaincy, level of preparedness, confidence in coaching staff and personality characteristics of individual team members.
Rugby is often seen as the clash of the giants and this year’s Rugby World Cup includes some mighty players. But there’s more to winning a game than just brute force.
Many nations contesting the Rugby World Cup are fielding ‘ring-ins’ from other countries. The rules allowing this reflect the difficulty of balancing national team integrity and development.
When South Africa won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 the country felt invincible and united. Twenty years later it is going through a tumultuous time which is even affecting its attitude to the Springboks.