When my son returned home from school on Monday afternoon to find me watching television in the living room, he gave me the sort of stern look a headmaster usually reserves for naughty pupils.
You see, this cheeky 12-year-old does not pay rent or even contribute to the household expenses, and yet he's got it into his head that the TV set in the living room is reserved for his X-box, and anyone who has the temerity to wander near this thing is trespassing.
I chuckled myself senseless as I watched him standing in the doorway. But then his frown suddenly turned into genuine concern when he realised that the images on the screen were from the Cape Town leg of the Springboks’ trophy tour.
‘‘Tjo, these poor guys have still not gone home to their families,” he muttered under his breath, more to himself than to me.
“This is too much now, daddy, maybe they are starting to regret winning the Rugby World Cup.”
Perhaps he was stretching it a bit by suggesting that it may have been better for the Bok to lose rugby's biggest prize than win it, but I understood where he was coming from. But here’s the thing, folks. I'll admit there have been times when I've also felt sorry for captain Siya Kolisi and his teammates as they toured some parts of SA with the Webb Ellis Cup recently.
These guys have not been home for months, and after the Herculean effort that saw them ascend to the summit of the rugby food chain there are times when the demands on their time back home have appeared to be more taxing than their victorious march to the title in Japan.
My son can be forgiven for thinking that perhaps beating England 32-12 in Yokohama in the final, Wales 19-16 in the semifinals, Japan 26-3 in the quarterfinals, Canada 66-7, Italy 49-3 and Namibia 57-3 in the pool stages was the easy part for the Boks.
Living up to expectations and satisfying all South Africans after returning home with the trophy is the tricky part.
Think about it. Some of these guys are probably still jet-lagged after getting off the plane from Japan a week ago. While Kolisi and his teammates would never think to complain, surely this trophy tour has taken its toll?
They are tired now and the enthusiastic waves to the crowds we saw a week ago when they emerged from the gates at OR Tambo International Airport are understandably less exuberant.
And yet there are some who are not happy with coach Rassie Erasmus' charges.
Those who are unhappy insist that the tour should not have been limited to Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Hell, some residents of the above cities are incensed that the team bus did not drive past their doorsteps. There were reports of disgruntled Eastern Cape fans protesting by burning tyres and old furniture because the Boks did not follow the routes on the official tour plan.
Residents of the northern areas in Port Elizabeth vented their anger by protesting, with reports of stoning. The Springboks had to use their social media accounts to apologise.
There have even been suggestions that the Boks must schedule another tour and return to apologise for failing to reach as many places as possible in the Eastern Cape.
It was the same in Durban and in Johannesburg — many disappointed fans had hoped to get autographs and were left stranded with their flags and Bok jerseys after the bus failed to arrive on their routes.
Imagine how the people of Free State, Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo must feel? They were not even on the schedule. The truth is this trophy tour was undermined by shocking planning and equally poor execution.
It's been bad!
Perhaps the chaos at OR Tambo Airport when the team arrived from Japan should have been heeded as an early indication of what was to come.
Planning was also atrocious at OR Tambo and that arrival event was marked by chaos.
Winning is a tough job, isn’t it?
Follow Ntloko on Twitter at @ntlokom
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