So I went to meet the Springboks… but there were no Springboks…
As advertised, "The Saracens and their guests, the Springboks, meet and greet party with the players" but there were no Springboks… well at least any current ones…
You may recall that an article was posted with a flyer last week for a meet and greet with The Saracens and The Springboks in Wimbledon (View article here). We were all led to believe that The Springboks themselves would be there as stated on the flyer… Well my friends, I'm afraid this certainly wasn't the case. Infact, nothing could be further from it.
This evening I excitedly rushed back to Wimbledon in order to get there early so that I could at least get to say Howzit and have a chat with some of the players before it got too busy. When we got down there, we noticed a couple of the South African Saracens players, but no sign of a single player from our victorious XV anywhere in sight. As the evening panned out, it seemed the only "Springboks" that were there and with no disrespect to them, were Cobus Visagie and Wikus Van Heerden who "used" to play for the boks some time ago, but nowadays play for The Saracens, so all in all, it seemed to be a few Saracens players "and none of their guests". Ex-Sharks player now playing for the Saracens, Brad Barritt was there and The Jen got to chat with him for a bit. During the evening an announcement was called where since I hadn't seen any of the Boks, I expected someone to announce that due unforeseen circumstances something had come up and the guys couldn't make it or were running late, but to my surprise, they thanked everyone for coming along; announced that there were a couple Saracens players in the venue and hoped we have a good evening… nothing whatsoever of the elusive Springboks. Eventually we left at around 10pm, quite disappointed to say the least amidst many people asking that one question… where are The Springboks?
So I think you probably get the picture, there were no Springboks, only two EX-Springboks who now fall in the category of Saracens players, and nothing said about The Springboks that were clearly advertised on the flyer. To be quite honest, I know it usually costs big tom for the guys to do public appearances, however due to the circumstances of them playing a few friendly's over here you may have thought otherwise, or at least had a couple of the okes there which I'm sure most people would have been happy with. Its not uncommon for them to make an appearance since they did rock up at Clapham Grand last time, with the legend that is John Smit even busting the decks during the night. I know most of the main guys were on a plane to France this evening, but to blatantly advertise that The Springboks are going to make an appearance and not follow through is rather disappointing, even knowing for certain that you are no doubt going to disappoint people is a bit beyond me, wasn't it as clear as day that this is what would happen? Its quite obvious that there were no plans for any of the current Boks to make an appearance to the extent that it is doubtful that the Boks even knew anything about it, because if there were concrete plans for it then we would have certainly got an apology from the organisers this evening. Seems a bit of a sneaky one to pull a crowd in my books.
Although this may not entirely be the venue's fault, as it may have been organised from outside of the venue, however at the end of the day, we have got some questions that need answering.
These are my views of disappointment based on fact of what appears to have been blatant false and mis-leading advertising.
Have a look at the advert via the link above and you be the judge.
Big Thanks to the Saracens players that came down, it was good to be able to meet you guys however sadly for some people this was overshadowed by the let down of expecting to see a few Boks but didn't.
Comments please
- Marky Mark
22 Responses to “So I went to meet the Springboks… but there were no Springboks…”
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Looks like another load of bullshit from the House Bar. I still haven’t forgiven them for the Facebook incident. I’ve never been there and i never will.
False advertising depending on the offence is a serious crime and who ever went could in right can take them to court. The outcome may not be great but neither the less it could result for The House Bar to close its doors.
Mark your right guy, we don’t need appalling service. I can see a boycott the the way..
Seriously.. come on people. If you have problems with House Bar dont go there. Its not that tough to think through.
And if you are so sad that you are still harping on about having to delete a few facebook messages i think you need to find better ways to fill your time. If you want to talk about boycotting, Please go ahead I am sure they wouldnt want you in, and for the rest of us that actually enjoy it, we would be much happier knowing that we can have a good night out there without worrying about sad people like you finding things to bitch about to fill your lives.
I was there last night, met some players and had a great time with my friends…. and didnt pay to get in. Try to enjoy your lives guys… seriously
You people all need to get a life!
False advertising? Serious crime? to many mail outs on there facebook pages, boycotting…lol.
Oh my god are you guys for real, I cannot believe how boring and what sad lives you people live!
The place was packed until i left at midnight, yes only ex springboks and Saracens players showed up, however this did not bother me and judging that nearly everyone stayed on until closing time it didn’t bother most of there fans/drinkers.
Its not the first time in history where prima-donna sportsman’s and celebrities don’t show up to an event.
Are all you people living under a rock in the dark ages.
Did house bar charge people for entrance? NO!!!!
So what serious crime is gareth talking about.
They stated on there facebook status and facebook mail out which players with there names clearly on there were coming which i received yesterday afternoon.
It can be said that you guys live on the internet by having way to much time on your hands to write comments about HB, so then you have no good excuse to complain if you didnt read there status and mailout prior to coming yesterday.
So what false advertising are you referring to, what a joke!
House Bar did there best to pull off an event that no other bar in Wimbledon to date have tried to do anything similar or could do as half as a good job as they did last night.
They got 7 rugby players down, i got to speak to many of them and what cool guys they were. The vibe, atmosphere was awesome and the bar was packed until midnight, lets not forget it was a cold Tuesday night.
I sense this is just another sad excuse for a house bar bashing by its local competitors and there staff who have nothing better to do with there lives and to slate HB for trying there hardest to pull off an event which in my opinion they did a great job.
Guys move on and grow up!
Hi Guys
Like I said in the article,
“Although this may not entirely be the venue’s fault, as it may have been organised from outside of the venue”
Lets not start an endless arguement about the venue because in all fairness if it was the any other venue advertising The Springboks and the same story happened, the same article would have been written. I’m not trying to bash the venue, it is unfortunate that it is this venue which is why I haven’t plastered its name all over the article. So venue and its previous history aside, lets focus on the actual problem here, that it was advertised that Springbok players were making an appearance on an official advert yet it seemed that only Ex-Springbok players were planned to attend, in which case the advert should have stated Ex-Springboks which wouldn’t have got people’s hopes up and they would have got what they expected, in which case to be honest, I probably would have still attended, but you can’t advertise that the President of the United States is coming to town expecting to meet Barack Obama and then find out that its George Bush when you get there, if you see where I’m coming from, its just not the same.
O, Marky Mark you missed out!!!!! why did you leave at 10? Or maybe I should thank you for leaving @ 10 – because that is the time the party started!!!!(ha,ha) thanks for leaving!!!
Let me just say I went around and never heard anyone complain or asking about the Springboks!! In fact everyone was showing of their signed shirts or papers! That should say everything!!!!!
Get a Life – and if you struggle to cope come to House Bar the people there will help you!!!
From THE ADELE
Listen Boet
Not only did you miss out on a fantastic jol-but you are busy insulting my FAVOURITE rugby team in the UK and by doing this you are committing a crime by not showing your patriotic colours for South Africa and its achievers present or past.You have really upset me with your unwanted comments.I suggest that you find something else to do if you have an urge to be heard because its clear to me that you are a nobody trying to be somebody!!!!!!
Stop speaking KAK and either stay in the UK and enjoy whatever comes your way-by the way the event was free,or hop on back to SA on the first available plane as it is clear to me that you are extremely unhappy with your life.You have to many issues mate!By the way-did you remember to buy your tickets for the Saracens/Springbok game because we all would like to see you there!!! including the SARACENS players that attended the evening!!!
From Not your China!!!!!!!!
Hi The Adele and A Huge Saracens Fan
I’ll reply to both your comments since you either are the same person or are a couple… I’ll get on to this later (same IP and email address used).
The Adele, thanks for your comments, not much I can say to that besides, schweet mkay…
A Huge Saracens fan, thanks for your comments however firstly I’d suggest reading my article again as it appears that you haven’t understood much of it nor read the last comment I made. I’ve been as diplomatic as possible with the article but you seem to have gone off at a tangent, which is typical of someone who I suspect is in your position at the moment which I’ll get to later. Upon reading the article again you may find that I was quite far from being insulting to your FAVOURITE team in the UK because I’m not sure how you can find the following insulting, “the only “Springboks” that were there and with no disrespect to them, were Cobus Visagie and Wikus Van Heerden” and “Big Thanks to the Saracens players that came down, it was good to be able to meet you guys” I’m sure any person that understands English would agree. And this, “by doing this you are committing a crime by not showing your patriotic colours for South Africa and its achievers present or past”, seriously dude, get real, you sound like an old ballie school teacher of mine from way back. Funny enough, I was looking forward to supporting The Saracens in the premiership due to the fact that they do have a lot of South African players in the squad and therefore as you so put it; show my patriotic colours for South Africa. I must apologise if my comments have upset you however if you mean about me insulting the The Saracens, then I think we’ve covered that point already, it appears you haven’t really read and understood correctly.
Also without trying to sound too modest, I don’t classify myself as a “somebody” but I certainly don’t classify myself as a nobody either.
Now I don’t know where this came from about me being unhappy about my life and living in the UK, but just to clear it all up, I’m going into my 9th year here in the UK, enjoying an extraordinary life, an abundance of amazing friends that I treat as my family and having the biggest jol ever, with no intentions of going back to SA thank you
There is no kak being spoken here, I think I have a very valid point, it was advertised that The Springboks were going to be attending, yet as we all now know, that wasn’t the case, and no-one has given a good valid reason for this, why?
Is your foot so stuck in your mouth now that you don’t know how to answer that, so you just carry on about anything else you can find besides that? Yes it was free, thank goodness because I would have seriously been not just disappointed, but hacked off if I paid to see The Springboks but didn’t.
And yes, I got my tickets ages ago thanks, I’m glad that everyone wants me there, including the Saracens players, EISH! now I really feel like somebody, this is awesome! So if everyone is so happy to have me there, I was wondering if they wouldn’t mind giving me and my entire row of mates that are going, VIP tickets? Since you brought up the whole patriotic colours and all, who will you be supporting during the game since if you support your favourite team in the UK, you yourself will be committing a crime by not showing your patriotic colours to South Africa because I guess you can’t really sit on the fence now can you, that’s just not the way it works.
When you go to a Sharks vs Bulls game in SA, you don’t support both teams just cause they are both South African, if you are a Sharks fan then you support the Sharks, if you are a Bulls fan then you support the Bulls, simple…. anyway, I’m digressing…
So anyway, The Adele, I take it you are obviously Adele Theron, the nice friendly lady who was selling the tickets on the night, and looking at the two comments, having the same IP and email address used, I can see that the first comment was written by Adele obviously. However the second comment which seems a bit more aggressive towards me personally aswell as defensive, and the fact that no woman has ever called me “boet” besides my sister since I am infact her boet, it seems to have been written by a man, which is no doubt in my mind through other means of confirmation, Mr. Theron (left your first name out on purpose since you specifically didn’t put it in in the first place, whereas Adele had) You know, on the night I thought you were actually quite a decent genuine oke, running around with the food and everything, really helping out and getting stuck in, also being the one who called everyone together and did the initial speech. This leads me to believe that you are also possibly the man in charge and the man who organised this? Now I would just like to point out that in my article, I have not pointed fingers at the venue as I clearly stated that this may not have been entirely their fault, I have not insulted any person or any team, I think its great that we have a Saffa jol in the area and would like to show my support however being involved in being misleading to people and dishonesty will only get peoples backs up. If it were anywhere else, I would have done the same, because it is not right and I’m sure most people reading this would like clarification for, as the English would say, blatantly taking the piss.
I’ll be as clear as possible here, this is not about a venue or a team or anything else about the night besides the fact that it was advertised that The Springboks would be attending, however it is clear that we were mislead into believing this through official adverts from/at the venue. So if you were the man in charge as it seems, and you were already quite happy to put your thoughts out into the open already as above… and since we have you here now, please would you answer the following simple question. Put everything else aside, venue, teams, people who attended, what a jol it was, because nobody wants to hear about anything else, put everything else aside besides this…
Why was it clearly advertised on the adverts that The Springboks were going to be there when we all now know that it was not the case?
That’s all I’m asking, just for the plain simple truth and a bit of honesty because it is unacceptable for you to get people’s hopes up like that and not produce the goods as expected. What if I travelled 100 miles expecting to meet the boks and get let down like that, I’d be down a decent amount on travel costs don’t you think. That’s it, simple. Trust me, I respect honesty and I will respect you even more for it and I’m sure everyone else will. If it was advertised properly and honestly, the evening would have been the success that it was without a massive backfire such as this and everyone would have been happy. To be truthfully honest, and don’t get me wrong, I really do respect and appreciate that you had good intentions at doing something nice for the saffa’s in the local area, I fully support things like that and I think you did fairly well given the circumstances, so well done, but getting peoples hopes up like that saying that The Springboks were going be there when you know you can’t deliver is not on. So if you could answer the question, that would be great.
You go Mark. Love your blogs and you standing up for what you believe. Keep writing the truth and your opinion.
Nice one Marky, It seems some people has wandered from the initial question, and all you are asking for is one explanation, not 50 excuses, don’t know why people avoid the truth, they end up turning it into a huge issue. I can only hope that you get an honest answer.
Listen Boet/Bitch/Whoever
You will notice this is Marks website, his blog, his opinion, his lame jokes, his terrible Indian style reviews.
He writes what he wants and some people obviously enjoy it as much as he does, it is a site for them as much as himself.
No one asked you to read it, although from what hes mentioned i understand you were working for them or still work there so maybe you are gettting a little defensive over your mis-use of and mistake in using the springbok name.
We are in London so when the springbok name is mentioned we all either rush for tickets or make a plan to somehow see them, from packing a pub to packing someones lounge, it is a link to home and our favourite sport, needless to say we are also World Champs and Tri Nations champs so when we hear the springboks are going to be at a club down the road we will damn right be rushing to meet them, congratulate them and just be stoked to be in the same place with them!
No one is unhappy or saying they dont like it here you fucking morons, but you dont say the springboks will be there when they wont! THATS A DISGRACE! Alot of people, the marjority that night i would say, only went BECAUSE of this reason! So you not only wasted their time with your lies, you got their hopes up along with many others.
It doesnt matter that other people had a great time, if i went to a pub i would have a great time too, but if i went to a pub expecting something that never happened it would be a fucking let down! He wasnt even too harsh about it in his review, but come on a piss take is a piss take, you fucking advertised THE SPRINGBOKS?!
False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or misleading advertising. Truth in labeling refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label.
Mark and others bought into this false advertising, spent money on drinks etc getting excited for something that never happened, and with this being his site he is more than welcome to write his view on that dissapointed without being told he is unhappy etc etc by some moron working for the very club.
Mark – im not even a fan of your shit but some is better than others and i woulda been annoyed too, the fact you also ripped them for hassling about adding everyone on facebook and with all their events and then you also promote this website of yours with the same shit, asking people to send this to their friends and friends friends is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. You may not hound as much but in one way or the other yours is the same as the very thing you moaned about then.
One last thing – You call your girl THE JEN, im very surprised you still have her, hold on to that one.
RESPECT
McPIMP
Well said Mark.
While reading “Huge Saracens Fan” comments it was clear that he either had selective reading, or a personal gripe about you and your comments, if true about Mr Saracen Fan being one of the organisers of the event, may i just say mr Saracen you haven’t exactly given your event or venue the best of reputations by attacking someone personally who is only voicing an opinion and asking a few questions about the advertising. I trust you will be careful enough next time not to jump to conclusion about a person, and hopefully next time you will show more of your “patriotic colours” by respecting a fellow South African’s opinion.
All said and done whether there were boks there or not wish i hadn’t missed out of the event as its a rare occasion that we have events like this in Wimbledon.
McPIMP! Awesome comment my man! RESPECT!
Regarding the promotion of PharSide, I do try keep things as clean as possible so that it is passed on through the social network to obtain relatively the same age group audience if you could say that that I’m going for. my apologies if your opinion is that what I do is wrong, I’ll respect that and try be a bit better going forward, thanks for the constructive crit
if you see what I’m saying 
Regarding The Jen, she doesn’t mind been called that as within my social circles this is a sort of sign of respect if you could say, kinda putting someone on a pedestal, showing that they are the one and only, Queen of all Jen’s… THE Jen haha
Thanks a mil for taking the time for your comment, much appreciated!
I will keep it simple.I invited Saracens and were told by Kobus Visagie,the bussiness development manager of Saracens that they will be bringing Springboks along-which as we all know did not happen.As a last minute change to their itenarary took place this caused the Boks not to be there,which I only found out when the guys arrived.I have discussed this with Kobus and if you contact me directly then I will forward you his contact details as he will be more than glad to explain to you why the Boks did not attend the evening.You can email me at the above adress and I will forward his details.Once you have spoken to him,like you should have done on the evening, or to any of the organisers, before entering into this whole debate,I would expect you to post a new comment on your site based on his remarks to you.I must say that I organised this event for people such as yourself and things dont always work out the we plan.It is however most unfortunate if a medium such as this has to be utilised to get a point across without gathering the facts beforehand.
haha pleasure, no one could say i was biased huh? But a piss take is exactly that, a piss take.
I get THE JEN thing now, i thought it was more of a Michael Naiker thing lol.
classic dude, keep it going.
To McPimp
If you need to speak to Cobus Visagie as well please email me at theron5@yahoo.com.I will gladly forward my contact number to you if you would like to discuss this any further!!!
Saracens Fan i understand your dilemna and its never easy to hear something negative especially when you had a part in it.
Like i said this is Marks website and he can view his dissapointment at anything he likes on it. He writes up reviews on events in the area and if hes writing an event on the Springboks being at the House Bar and there are none there then what the hell.
No one wants to hear excuses, it was obviously not gaurenteed or planned correctly or they would have been there. Cobus can explain the same thing that you have but you are losing the point, this is not the local news and Mark is free to express his view on the night which wasnt.
You were let down by Cobus or whomever didnt arrange this correctly or changed the plans, WE were let down by you and your club. boom.
Hats of to Marky Mark for bringing Theron to his knees – indirectly he has admitted what has happened was wrong. Marky Mark, I think you’re in the wrong field…you should be a Lawyer boet! Well done.
BOOM!! RESPECT for the explanation, thats all I needed, and in my opinion, don’t need it explained any further. If only we could get politicians to do the same, the world might be a better place! Haha! Marky Mark, you are the ‘Ghandi’ of The SA/Brit Social scene, and as with Ghandi, Not everyone is gonna agree with your point of view, especially when you ‘put it out there’, Big Up to you Bro, you’ve got balls!
I just want to say a huge thank you to House Bar – I was here and still is on vacation – what a lovely venue and I will tell everybody back home who is planning to come over to go there. I can see everyone’s disappointment, but come on guy’s were will you get to meet Saracens players (ex Springbok – not so long ago) for free!!!!!! I must say I do not see that Marky Mark bought Mr. Saracens to his knee’s, what I see is a man that planned a event for everyone – and managed to give it for free and let everyone including the players have a good jol! So here is to all of you guys with your witty comments – relax – take life as it is – be great full for what you got – at least you’ve seen some players – and come Tuesday you will see all of them including the Springboks and I am sure that afterwards you can meet them – it will be the mid week team (so sorry no guarantees for the “main” team)- but like I said and feel a Springbok is a Springbok (present or ex)!
O yes by the way I am going to frame my 18 month old son signed rugby shirt!!!! I am proud of all the players that were there – they achieved a status world wide! – and in my eyes they will always be Springboks!
Hi Guys
Firstly I’d like to thank everyone for their support and everyone for their comments, its been quite interesting.
I would just like to say a big thank you to Mr. Theron for putting everything aside and laying it out on the table. I do appreciate and respect your honesty greatly, you’ve shown good character in the end and once again I see the decent oke that I saw the other night who was really going out of his way. No hard feelings. Furthermore it seems I was correct in saying that it wasn’t entirely the venues fault, however I think certain precautions could have been made in the advertising of the event. It seems though the venue bought into this just as much as we did.
I do feel that it is not up to me to go to Cobus to ask for an explaination since he’ll probably just tell me what you have told me, and also the fact that you say that he knows about this, he is more than welcome to come forward and explain if he so wishes.
With all due respect Cobus, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but I speak for everyone when I say that a number of people have felt let down, if you say that The Springboks or some Springboks are going to be attending, then it is your responsibility to make sure that if it does not turn out as planned, that people are made fully aware of it. Nobody should have to ask. At the end of the day, as McPimp explained, the term Springboks is an extremely important brand name to be used with us saffas over here. As you guys knew about this from the time you arrived, the least I would have expected was something during the small speech to make people aware. If someone had simply said “Guys I’m really sorry, I know alot of you were expecting to see some Springbok players here tonight but it is with great regret that theres been a sudden change in the itinerary beyond our control which means that the guys are not going to be able to make it, we do hope this doesn’t stop you from enjoying a great evening with the players that have gone through the effort to make it, once again apologies for this mishap” If someone had said something along those lines I guarantee no-one would have been too upset about it and accepted it as, oh well shit happens. Even I would have thought the same and stayed to enjoy the evening right until the end, but because nobody came forward and explained the situation, it just seemed like a case of, oh well we hope nobody notices and kicks up a fuss about it afterwards.
To be quite honest I probably would have written a rave review about it just for the effort of pulling it off, where only one line of the entire article may have consisted of why the Boks couldn’t make it in the end.
Anyway, I hope this doesn’t deter you guys from doing future Player/Supporter events as I think lessons have now been learnt which will prevent the same mistakes been made in the future. I think its actually a great idea to do this sort of thing as its bound to form such a concrete army of supporters for the Saracens.
The best of luck to your guys on Tuesday, looking forward to it being an awesome game, alot of people are constantly talking about it so its bound to be a great Wildly South African evening.
All the best
Cheers
Marky Mark
Wow so much has been said in one day.
We are all glad that the Springboks and Saracens… and House Bar is getting so much attention.
So i would like to take this opportunity to let you all know that for those of you who are not lucky enough to have tickets to the game,
We will be hosting the Alternative Rugby Commentary who will be having their usual rugga rant to the game on Tuesday from 19:00 by the famous Jedsta!
It will be a biggy!
Good Luck to all players!
Thanks Okes!