Springboks lift rugby World Cup for underprivileged folks at home

By A Special Sports Correspondent

South Africa capped off a hard and rugged path to the World Cup final in France with a smashing 12-11 win over reigning champions New Zealand at the Stade de France on Sunday (October 29).

It was South Africa’s fourth rugby world cup win and probably the hardest because the ‘Springboks’ pulled through in all three knockout stage games against their opponents by a single point. In the quarter finals Siya Kolisi’s men beat France and in the semi-finals they got the better of England, a team which had to be satisfied with a Bronze medal finish after seven weeks of intense mind-boggling rugby played for the William Web Ellis Trophy. England beat Argentina 26-23 in the third-place play-off.

New Zealand have only themselves to blame; giving away a crucial red card in the first half. The offense came from their captain Sam Cane with the game just 27 minutes old. But still the All Blacks hung on and stepped up the pressure to stay close within South Africa’s score and not make it a hopeless final. One man down in a rugby world cup final can be terrible and New Zealand made amends for that slip with a power packed display of committed rugby in the middle. The other only setback was giving away four crucial penalties which South Africa capitalized on and turned into points through the boot of Handre Pollard.

This rugby win for South Africa means so much for them back at home. In South Africa the majority of people are still unemployed. But we got to hear that the people of South Africa were fully backing this team in France to lift the world cup for the fourth time. South Africans wore green to office on Fridays and those who could wore anything green on the last working day of the week to show solidarity with the rugby team doing national duty in France. This vibe in South Africa was picked up by skipper Kolisi and his men and that helped them stay motivated. “What the people of South Africa were doing back at home was a constant motivation for us. Some of our people don’t even have homes. For me giving up and not giving everything would be cheating,” skipper Kolisi was quoted saying in www.worldrugby.com, the official website of World Rugby; the controlling body for rugby union in the world.

In the extreme hard trek to the final South Africa played against top rated teams like Ireland, France, England, Tonga, Scotland and finally New Zealand. Their only defeat came at the hands of Ireland in the pool stages of the World Cup. South Africa also had a moment of brotherhood and spirituality when after their game against Tonga (Which the former won 49-18) members of both sides were seen huddling together, kneeling down and praying while on the ground. Later some of the players exchanged their playing shirts; underscoring that the spirit of camaraderie in the game will eventually take over the minds of the players after a battle is won or lost in the middle. Tonga’s captain was quoted in saying “It was really a beautiful moment in the game”.

New Zealand made everyone cry at the finals. No doubt the instant favourite with the crowd and the majority of the rugby world, the All Blacks, did pretty well to stay in the game despite the early setback of giving away a red card. Still with 14 men on the field New Zealand earned the respect of the Springboks for their gallant effort in the 90-minute showpiece of rugby union. It was touch and go in the middle of the field and just one point stood between the two teams wanting to lay their hands on the glittering ‘Webb Ellis’. South Africa prevailed in the end, but the Springboks skipper had loads of praise for New Zealand for the show they put up. “They took us to the end. They took us to a dark place. It shows what kind of a team they’re to fight with a man down from early in the game. They put us under so much pressure,” said Kolisi.

New Zealand still didn’t let down their fans and kept fighting in this once in four years rugby carnival. Their head coach Ian Foster had this to say: “To get down to that red card so early and fight our way back and give ourselves a chance is pretty special. To get within a whisker of pulling it off is heartbreaking”. The All Blacks are the most fancied and most feared side in the world rugby scene and only a few would contest that; even if performance statistics suggest otherwise. The All Blacks are going to return home with many lessons from this world cup defeat which would serve them well for the future. Looking on the bright side of things, their number eight Ardie Savea was named as Rugby’s 15-a-side player of the year by World Rugby at a gala awards ceremony held on Sunday.