Mr Robert Brian Skinstad (that’s Bob to the masses) has long been a friend of 2OV, and we like to check in every now and again to see how the big man is doing.

Bob recently relocated to London with his family, and Fin24‘s Alec Hogg met up with him to discuss a little about what he’s getting up to over on Mud Island.

Yes yes, they also talk about how Allister can turn things around for the beleaguered Boks – how much time do you have, Bob?

Let’s eavesdrop on their chat:

What are you doing over here?

I like to say ‘exploring at the moment’. I’m settling in. Look, I’ve kept my business interests in South Africa. All, except for the restaurants. I’ve sold out of the restaurants to put some money on this side of the pond but we still run the sports business. The old school group runs that and all of the sponsorship and stuff for Seartec is still over there and very ably run.

Here, I’m actually working for a family office and they’ve got holdings in South Africa and here, as well as all over the world. For me, it’s another step up – a chance to learn more, to roll up the sleeves in my business development role. I suppose if a customer needs to grow customers, I try to learn about how to grow them some more customers with that team.

Are you enjoying the anonymity of being in Britain?

Alec, like you can’t believe. I love my social cricket and I was able to play a few games towards the end of the season last year and it was an absolute delight to be able to take my family down, picnic, and have fun. Look, there’s the odd, “Hoe gaan dit, Bobby?” depending on where I am, but there’s been almost 100% anonymity and it’s been great.

It’s actually really allowed me to focus, simplify a lot of things, and I suppose in a way, concentrate more on what’s important to us than what’s around us as opposed to always having something else to do on the weekend (i.e. commentary). I still love that. Involvement in sport is huge for me but I just felt that I had 20 different masters and for me, it’s been a real chance to just simplify that whole side of it.

Let’s get to the rugga bit – help us out here:

Talking about jockeys, horses, and rugby: The South African performance over the weekend had many Saffers in the U.K. feeling pretty distraught.

Look, I’m a massive sports fan anyway – a Springbok fan. I’ll be screaming at the TV whether they’re winning or losing. Yes, it was disappointing. Give great kudos to the All Blacks. They play a beautiful brand of rugby at the moment. They’re just playing with incredible confidence and honesty as a team. They work really hard.

The Springboks…we talk about what they’re going through. They do go through a lot as a national team. I think they’ve got different influences that not everybody understands but I don’t say that as part of an excuse. I think they must be hurting because they don’t like losing and they are the cream of the crop in South Africa.

It was good to watch rugby at least being played like that – like the All Blacks. The Springboks scored a couple of points where I really felt they were in that game. Brian Habana’s try was a beautiful example of using the ball and using it well. There were glimpses of positives as well.

You can find out more about what Bob’s up to (and his views on Bok and English rugby) in the full interview HERE.

Good luck pal, give it horns.

[source:fin24]