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When the South African national team, the Springboks, held out the dangerous and committed New Zealand All Blacks to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup in Johannesburg – unleashing scenes of unmitigated joy and celebration across the country– there were those cynics who claimed the good feeling was all a flash in the pan.
Those selfsame cynics were made to eat their words last year as similar scenes of jubilation erupted after the Springbok class of 2007 hoisted the trophy yet again, following a hard-fought battle with England in Paris, France.
Not only were the Springboks good enough to reclaim a trophy they had won more than 10 years previously; they again made all South Africans, across cultural, colour, class, gender and religious divides, forget their differences and unite behind their team.
Showcase of Unity
The 1995 World Cup competition was an eye-opening showcase for the peaceful transition that then-president Nelson Mandela had miraculously woven.
Even today, more than a decade after the fact, the photo of victorious captain Francois Pienaar hoisting the William Webb Ellis trophy together with Mandela remains one of South Africa’s most indelible modern images.
Joining it in the history books will be the images captured at Stade Français: of triumphant captain John Smit; of his victorious and overjoyed team; and of a beaming President Mbeki, grasping the trophy while sitting astride the players’ shoulders.
Latest Historic Victory
It’s not only at World Cup competitions that the Springboks work their magic.
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Just recently the team, under new coach Peter De Villiers (the first non-white to coach), rewrote history by becoming the first South African side to beat the All Blacks at their fortress in Dunedin, New Zealand, ominously nicknamed the ‘House of Pain’.
It was a stunning achievement, especially from a coach who had barely begun his tenure in the hottest of seats. For the first time in 87 years a Springbok team achieved what only 4 other teams in the history of the game had ever done, and what no Springbok team had been able to do – beat one of the game’s best in their own backyard.
Accolades Stream In
South African rugby has always been strong, with the Springboks regarded as one of the most potent teams on the planet alongside New Zealand’s fearsome All Blacks, traditional rivals since the first game between the two giants in 1921.
We have long been regarded as a rugby powerhouse, but the strength of South African rugby has grown since readmission to the global sporting arena in 1991, with players and coaches raking in top international rugby honours.
Among the most recognisable – and destructive – of Springboks is the blonde-haired Schalk Burger, a human cruise missile. In 2004 the irrepressible Burger became the first South African to win all rugby’s top international awards, including the International Rugby Board (IRB) Player of the Year.
This feat was replicated by flying wing Bryan Habana, another Springbok hero, in 2007. Not only was he named the IRB Player of the Year, but also Player of the 2007 World Cup, a tournament at which Habana excelled, equalling the world record for tries scored in a single tournament.
It’s not only the players who win awards: World Cup-winning former coach Jake White, with the team from 2004 to 2007, was twice named IRB coach of the Year (in 2004 and 2007) while the Springboks, at the same time, were voted IRB Team of the Year.
History
The beginning of rugby in South Africa can be attributed to Britain’s control over South Africa from 1806, establishing British sports in the Cape.
By 1883 the game was prominent in the region, leading to the formation of the Western Province Rugby Football Union. Six years later the South African Rugby Football Union was founded, placing it among South Africa’s oldest sporting authorities.
The following years heralded the start of international test matches, including tours to Ireland and Britain. It didn’t take South Africa too long to win their first test series, in 1903. They were not to lose another series until 1956.
South African rugby has always had a uniting effect, though not in quite as universal a way as it does now.
The tour to Britain in 1906 helped heal wounds after the Boer War and instilled a sense of national pride in white South Africans. It was on this tour that captain Paul Roos coined the name Springboks, taken from the symbol on their jersey – to prevent British journalists from inventing their own name for his team.
Although apartheid was in full swing, rugby and other sporting codes continued to enjoy international exposure until the infamous Basil D’Oliviera case of 1967. D’Oliviera, a talented cricketer who couldn’t play for South Africa because he was non-white, relocated to England where he quickly proved his batting prowess. When he tried to return while touring with England he was denied entry by the South African government.
The resulting bad publicity led to South Africa being banned from international sporting participation until 1991.
However, South African rugby, like the country itself, has put the ills of the past behind it and moved on to represent all of South Africa’s people - without losing its powerful aura.
On Top of the World
As we move into a new era of Springbok rugby under a new coach, the team sits atop the world rankings, and will defend its world champion title at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.
With new coach Peter De Villiers confidently claiming that the Springboks can improve by as much as 40%, we can only say to our opposition: be afraid, be very afraid.
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