of rugby, down the toilet as far as casting of accusations of thuggery and thugby were concerned. Aussies and Kiwi's were literally lining up to poke a stick at the Springboks who they'd just love to have eternally typecast as prime evil on any park.
Imagine the joy in Bokland lately as fans yelp, “Out with the old, in with the new.” Bakkies Botha has a replacement, a successor to the the throne of thugby. Ma'a Nonu, Hurricanes and New Zealand centre ! No more haughty putdowns for us, hell no ! Nonu is the new Bakkies ! Have at look at this years Super 14 and anyone could tell you Nonu has suddenly amassed more citings than Mulder and Scully in the X-Files !
Forget about UFO's, Ma'a Nonu is the evil 'extra-terrestrial' flying around rugby stadiums this year. Almost as if he's desperately trying to decapitate or paralyse specimens, he's become the new Bakkies Botha and then some. He's the spear tackling, neck breaker we've always known to have lived in New Zealand and who represents their style of play.
Bok fans are as chuffed as their counterparts Down Under were with Bakkies Botha. A trophy thug and hooligan !
To ironically add to the beauty of our new icon of evilness, Ma'a Nonu has dodged punishment like a Space Invader in a cheesy 80's arcade machine. Frenzied referee's and citing commissioners have been punching away at their little 'red buttons' like pimply teenagers at corner cafes. But the great neon streaked centre has a 'force-field' that no-one has figured out quite yet.
Citings have bounced off him and vanish as quickly as Atari consoles were replaced by Sony Playstations. What a fine specimen of evil ? Ma'a Nonu ! Let's hope he makes it back into an All Black jersey, because we all know that he's a prefect fit for their style of play.
Ma'a Nonu ? I'll be sending him a Bakkies Botha autographed red waxcoated jockstrap – the Bloody Thug of the Season Award, ladies and gentlemen goes to..... New Zealand's finest, Ma'a Allan Nonu !
