Deeath and disaster, magic and magnificence.

Give local sport its due, for it served up a little of everything in a year that was as wondrous as it was woeful.

Nothing can compare to the Springboks’ remarkable World Cup triumph, perhaps the greatest single South African sporting moment of the past 10 years, but this is counter-balanced by how the Proteas sunk without trace at the cricket World Cup.

Hard words were spoken by Faf du Plessis, the captain. “It’s becoming a little bit embarrassing,” he said halfway through, echoing the thoughts of thousands of fans whose anger returned at year’s end with Cricket SA’s near-collapse. And this, on top of the Test retirements of Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn.

Amid the mayhem, there was magic too as Tabrez Shamsi enlivened the Mzansi Super League a fortnight ago by celebrating a wicket with a magic trick, whipping out a handkerchief and turning it into a wand. More power to the mavericks.

Bafana Bafana, meanwhile, were as before: neither here nor there. After losing to Ivory coast at the Cup of Nations, Stuart Baxter let slip his frustration: “It annoys me sometimes when we hear of the 56 million behind us when in reality that’s not 56 million behind us. There’s 56 million waiting to chop our heads off.”

The result inspired one of the sharpest tweets of 2019, one wag saying, “Is it me or Bafana Bafana only scores in Castle Lager ads?”

Eish!

To be fair, beating Egypt earlier was a marvellous result that spoke of endless possibilities, not unlike Sundowns, who in April destroyed mighty Al Ahly 5-0 in a Champions League match. It was the standout SA soccer performance of the year.

If Caster Semenya’s ambition was knocked back in the courts, Banyana Banyana took up the cudgels for women’s sport with a spirited first-ever appearance at the World Cup. Thembi Kgatlana thus became the first SA goal scorer at a women’s World Cup.

Months later, the netballers played with great imagination and verve at the World Cup, ending fourth.

Closer to home, Gerda Steyn shattered Elena Nurgalieva’s 2006 record to win her first Comrades title in just under six hours.

Let such moments be the impetus for women’s sport to thrive in SA.

Rugby, as ever, provided emotional extremes. The Stormers were thrashed 40-3 in their opening Super Rugby match. The Sharks, meanwhile, provided car-crash entertainment with Robert du Preez’s running battle with the “cockroaches” of the media. He lost.

Far better was the celebration of Beast Mtawarira’s SA record 157^th Super Rugby match, a fantastic feat by one of the game’s most eminent players.

The Boks went space age on their way to winning in Japan as their match against Italy was the first to be broadcast in space. What a time to be alive.

Yet 2019 also brought great sadness with the passing of James Small and Chester Williams, two tremendous wing men united in death as they were in life.

Cheetahs centre Nick Lee, meanwhile, inspired the most bizarre disciplinary process when he copped a 13-week ban for clearing his nose into the face of an opposition player.

What was he thinking?

On a happier note, Daryl Impey won a stage of the Tour de France, on Bastille Day, while tiny Xolisa Magusha and Siya Kuse produced the fight of the year in East London.

Fittingly, Siya Kolisi produced the best quote of 2019: “The colour we are matters less than the colours we are wearing.”

The funniest, though, came from Faf du Plessis, who somehow retained his humour amid a bleak time for cricket.

“He’s lying in bed with my sister,” said the Paarl Rocks skipper when asked about Hardus Viljoen’s absence from a T20 recent game. The quickie had married Du Plessis’s sister, Rhemi Rhynners.

Happy holiday to you all. – © Sunday Tribune