When you think of the Midlands, the West Midlands especially, there are certain things that spring to mind; the proximity to the Welsh border, the dirty industrial Black Country, the congested M6 and that unforgettable Brummy accent (sorry Skidders). Now as anyone who has bothered to visit will know, a few things have changed for the better since the end of the industrial revolution and the construction of the M6 Toll – aside from that ‘lovely’ dialect – but thankfully there are two exports that are truly British and that will forever be from the West Midlands; Rugby and Land Rovers! No matter which new pretender has eyes on the Rugby crown every four years, or which new multi-national tries to turn a profit on that iconic vehicle design, these are two inventions that will always have MADE IN ENGLAND proudly stamped on them. Both might have breathed their first breaths just miles apart, but it wasn't on those wet, cold and muddy Warwarkshire fields that they both excelled, no it was further from home 8,000 miles away or there abouts, in the deserts, jungles and plains of Africa is where both of these famous exports have been tested to the max., where they have found their spiritual homes;
Now over 60 years old the Land Rover has changed little since its invention just moments after the end of the War and they has been synonymous with Police and Military units around the World and used by everyone from the British SAS and the Royal Family to Fidel Castro on that funny Carribbean island. It is in the heart of the Dark Continent however that the brand has proved its metal; the vehicle of choice for many taking part in the Paris – Dakar, the Camel Trophy expeditions, the Cape to Cairo Overlanders or even scattered across the Serengeti plains piled high with camera laden tourists. It’s not just the West that loves the Landy though as I found out recently as I surfed the internet and trawled the classified sections of the local papers. Despite the lack of dealers and spare parts in Uganda, the locals certainly have a certain love of the old colonial work horse. After a few weeks searching I stumbled upon a beautiful 110 Defender through a recently acquired fellow Land Rover enthusiast and met up with them in the car park of a deserted South African chain store on a sunny Sunday afternoon to check it out. Armed with a hammer, torch and screw driver and full to the ears with recently gained knowledge on how to properly check the inevitable rust of the steel chassis, I watched as the green beauty honed into view. While speaking to Amos the owner, I kicked the tyres, checked the history and wiggled under the beast for a closer inspection. The first emotion was shock, shock at the state of it; not a single spot of rust or patch repair to be found, and on inspection a close to perfect engine bay too. Without wanting to get too visibly excited I took her for a spin, almost willing for something to go wrong for this just seemed too good to be true! Sure enough there was one problem - the electrics, however as the owner has just completed a full re-spray this was purely due to the fact that they hadn’t been reconnected yet. Now things could and possibly will go wrong in the future. The old girl might cough and splutter from time to time. She may even need an overnight stay at a friendly mechanic, but this is a Land Rover at the end of the day and that's part of her charm. So until that day...where do I sign?
Now I count myself pretty lucky as a Rugby fan, to have been privileged enough to attend the school where the sport was invented and played on the hallowed turf where a snotty school boy basically cheated in a game of School Football, flaunting the rules by picking up the ball and running with it. The game took some time to get established and it wasn’t until the 1980’s that the first World Cup came around, but as soon as it touched down on the shores of Africa it seemed to mutate and propagate into a much larger monster. Since about 1875 rugby has been played on this continent in some form or other but it wasn’t until 1891 that England arrived to play their first game against a 'Bokke' team organised from the local clubs by an expat Rugby School boy and financed by Cecil Rhodes himself. The outcome of the 19 games may well have been a little one sided to the English, but that was soon to change as time rolled on and the Old Dutch got a hold of the sport. Well over a hundred years has passed since those days and the continent can now boast two World Cup victories – one of which arguably helped bring a country together and end Apartheid, – numerous Lions series wins and plenty of World class players. As the game grows across the World it is starting to develop in less well known African rugby playing countries. Kenya is becoming a great sevens team that can match the best Fijians on the day, while Uganda also appears to be pulling up its socks, narrowly missing out on a change to make the 2011 World Cup two years ago. This weekend however they were face up against the Zimbabweans in the Africa Cup. The Ugandans were winners of the Cup in 2007 and after watching their recent training session on the other half of the pitch I was playing touch on this week, let’s hope 'The Cranes' don’t stay under the international radar for long. 2015 World Cup could well be up for grabs, especially if the IRB allocate more slots to this rapidly developing Rugby Continent. As for now; let’s go the Cranes!
