Sorry John(s), it's a tragedy to extinguish Western Province flame

I HAVE worked with my colleague, and friend, John Goliath, for close to 20 years barring a brief intermission when he chose to run after the fool's gold at a rival publication that no longer exists.

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From the very first moment we met we hit it off. We have shared a near-death experience, jolled together like we were 21 years old — because we actually almost were - during the 2010 Fifa World Cup, stood in the slips for our local amateur cricket team, and share primarily the same views on how sport should be played.

But on these very pages just yesterday, he stirred up something inside me. He had the temerity to agree with powers-that-be that Cape Town's Currie Cup team should no longer be called Western Province and be replaced with Stormers XXIII.

For me that’s sacrilegious. And while I fully understand that if someone like John Dobson, who has “Prooovince” running through his veins, says it’s for the best, who am I to disagree? But I vehemently disagree. Western Province is part of the DNA of this Mother City. Just like the Stormers are. For me they have always been separate entities that can coexist.