1) They love rubbing it in when a South African sports team beats a New Zealand team.
2) The Eastern Province Kings are nowhere near ready for Super rugby honours.
3) Bryce Lawrence had better not set foot on South African soil for a while.
4) None of the Bulls supporters seem keen on the pink away strip their team must wear this season.
Cricket and rugby are serious points of discussion here and I was chuffed when the Black Caps won the first T20.
Although I didn't rub this victory in with my Afrikaans hosts, the gesture wasn't reciprocated when the Proteas came back strong in the second game. Every opportunity presented was an opportunity to remind me of the outcome.
National pride aside, the competitive games make for a great tour that spectators in both nations can feast on in February and March.
Luckily for my hosts, I'm not that passionate about cricket, but rugby is another story. There isn't much to do in Port Elizabeth and when we heard the EP Kings were playing the Sharks we had to go and check out the atmosphere at the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
This stadium recently hosted Football World Cup games, an All Blacks v Springboks test, and the South African leg of the IRB sevens circuit, and rather than leave this mega-event stadium to become a white elephant, the local province was making the most of this community asset by hosting soccer games and an opportunity for the Kings to prove their worth as a Super rugby team.
When you spend time in a country you notice the way locals hold themselves and communicate verbally and non-verbally. It was because of his swagger that we noticed a Kiwi in the Kings team in the form of Clint Newland.
Despite his presence, the EP Kings were woeful against the Sharks. They defended their line valiantly in the first half, but at no time did they look like scoring.
It felt as if the official during the game decided to give the home crowd something to cheer about by helping out the Kings as much as possible to score a try in the second half.
Despite the outcome, the stadium was intimate, the crowd excited, and access to the stadium reminded me of the Cake Tin in Wellington (a sign of home sickness, perhaps).
Talking of officials and ill-health, Sanzar may have caused Lawrence a minor heart attack when they announced he would act as a replacement referee for one of the opening games for Super rugby in 2012.
Fortunately for him, the game he was assigned to as a "super-sub" official will be in Canberra, and not Cape Town.
There are a few upset people here who do not want to see that man in their lifetime, and no matter what we think of his performance during that Springboks-Wallabies game, no-one deserves death threats because of the outcome of a game.
Nonetheless, for safety reasons, Lawrence should not be allocated to any South African conference games for this year at least. Maybe time will heal the wounds?
New Zealanders didn't take too long to forget the ref in the 2007 quarterfinals, right?
Will the Bulls supporters who are being forced to support their beloved team in pink this season be as forgiving?
Highlanders supporters voiced their distaste of the proposed green strip their team would wear in 2012, and eventually the decision-makers compromised and suggested the green strip would be their (occasional) away uniform.
If Highlanders fans thought a bright green colour was hard for a Southern Man to swallow, what do you think a pink jersey does to a Bulls supporter?
Who will win this battle? The marketing gurus who decided a pink uniform would enhance the brand (perhaps appealing to the female market?) or the traditionalist supporters of this team who chant "my bloed is blou" in their sleep?
All I know is that my blood runs black, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Super rugby season kick off and New Zealand teams kick some pink Boks over the dead ball line.
There is nothing better than home sweet home.