Greg Mumm: The World Cup – A balance of honour and expectation
By Greg Mumm
As the pitches are mown in anticipation of the first weekend of World Cup action, notions of honour and expectation will start filtering into the collective minds of the 20 nations.
In a tournament such as this, used wisely, these concepts can motivate individuals, teams and countries alike, used poorly they can become a heavy weight around ones neck.
Honour can be viewed in a number of ways – honouring those that have gone before you, honour your country, family and fans, honour your brothers in battle standing next to you, and honour the sweat and blood you have spilled for this opportunity.
Used in these ways it can inspire, raise the hair on your neck and lift teams and individuals to feats not seen outside the confines of a World Cup. Think Jonah Lomu v England 1995, Dusautoir v New Zealand 1999, a heavily underestimated Australia pushing England all the way in 2003 at home, and the supremely lead South African and New Zealand teams on 2007 & 2011.
However