Four weeks of trauma and triumph culminated in South Africa emerging as champions, now they have to face up to that challenge, writes Jon Swift
THE euphoria will take a while to evaporate into the realities of everyday life but the bitter aftertaste of Louis Luyt’s ill-timed attempts at humour will probably take a bit longer.
That the South Africans made it all the way through to the final and then sustained the intensity which bore them through the 104 minutes of the emotion-choked Ellis Park final is tribute to a massive dose of self- belief administered by coach Kitch Christie and a refusal to lie down.
But, inescapably, the fact remains that Francois Pienaar and his squad — and clearly they were one team for one nation — are world champions for the next four
It is, quite simply put, an awesome responsibility and whoever wears the green and gold between now and Rugby World Cup ’99 in Wales will take the additional load of the William Webb Ellis trophy on to the field with them. It will certainly weigh a lot heavier than it did when Pienaar took it from President Mandela’s hands last weekend. The alchemy of responsibility and, by inference, reputation will rapidly turn the gold to
But that aside, there were points during the month-long congress of rugby’s top 16 rugby-playing nations which will, for different reasons perhaps, live long in the memory. The sudden outpouring of patriotic pride during the opening 27-18 defeat of Australia is headed only by the national hysteria which greeted the 15-12 triumph over the All Blacks in the final.
Between these two poles lay some incredible determination and a national toenadering which few could have foreseen a scant four weeks ago.
To have beaten both the Wallabies and the All Blacks with virtually no line-out ball is almost beyond belief. Although it is simply not posssible in a straight paper equation, it inexplicably turned into a
At the heart of it all was the magnificence of the South African defence. Throughout the ups and downs of the pool matches Pienaar’s side gave up a miserly 26 points. No other side came close to this record.
This continued through the quarter and semifinals with South Africa giving away 29 points before the final and the All Blacks a staggering 59.
There were low points in the South African voyage to the final though, not all of them directly as a result of matches this country was involved in, although one would hesitate to think so. The real nadir was Max Brito breaking his neck in the game against Tonga. The Ivory Coast threequarter remained paralysed from the encounter which had nothing more than pride involved. Both teams had already missed the boat in the knockout
This tragic incident, even more than the unbalanced 145-17 scoreline which favoured the All Blacks over the luckless Japanese in the pool game at Bloemfontein, signalled the insanity of trying to broaden the competition beyond its natural limits.
There simply are not 20 nations — and this is the number Rugby World Cup is aiming for in Wales — around who can play the game at the level needed to be anything other than cannon fodder. One could argue that it is doubtful whether there are eight. Certainly the $550-million deal Luyt signed with Aussie media magnate Rupert Murdoch could signal the end of the colourful men from Manu Samoa as a factor.
The Samoans have been cut out of the deal both at international level and as a side in the new Super 12 competition which supercedes the Super 10.
Looking beyond the equator, it could also signal the end of the British Lions, even if they are due to tour here in three years time. With the demands on the top players in the southern hemisphere due to increase dramatically, will the Lions — already under fire at home — still be relevant? Perhaps, but the doubts surely remain.
There was also the unsavoury sight of the bodies littering the Canadian-inspired combat zone in the pool game at Boet Erasmus. Ill-timed intervention by James Dalton and the ill-tempered use of the boot by Pieter Hendricks cost both players a part in the ultimate drama at Ellis Park.
The 20-0 scoreline which put South Africa into the quarterfinals became of somewhat secondary importance. The lack of discipline which has stood like a brand on the forehead of this country’s players again came into
Incredibly, the cooler heads in the South African squad prevailed in the quarterfinal meeting against Manu Samoa at Ellis Park.
There were occasions when the South African sides of old would have erupted into open warfare at the head- hunting tactics of the South Sea Islanders. They didn’t, and the quarterfinal had three spin-offs.
On the plus side was the joyous return of Chester Williams to the side after having decided before the start of the World Cup that his hamstring was still too brittle to risk at this level. Four tries from “Chessie” broke a South African Test record and re- established him in the hearts of the nation.
But the post-match cheering rang hollow when it was found that Andre Joubert had broken his hand and that Joost van der Westhuizen had been branded a racist by a member of the Kiwi press. Neither was merited. Joubert and Van der Westhuizen had both been stars of the tournament. Joost was dumbfounded at the allegations. Joubert simply took the agony of the surgeon’s knife and the discomfort of the decompression chamber and came back better than ever.
Van der Westhuizen answered his critics in the same way, turning in fine performance after fine performance. Perhaps his finest game was in the rain against France at King’s Park.
The field was a sodden skating rink but Van der Westhuizen — despite having to finally leave the field with damaged ribs — turned in the performance of his young life as the South Africans held out agianst the Tricolor storming of the Bastille of their tryline.
It was here too that the true worth of Pienaar and his flanker partner Ruben Kruger also stood out, pulling off tackle after tackle, driving themselves beyond the understood limits of human endurance. The country and the game owes these two plenty in the 19-15 triumph.
Which all led to the final and the much hyped confrontation betwen the young New Zealand giant Jonah Lomu and James Small. One can only feel sorry for the extra pressure put on both of them. They are both world-class players. Both performed below par at Ellis
In the event, this confrontation was a non-event. The inexperienced Lomu was contained and his only real runs at the line were halted by Joubert and then by a bone- crunching tackle from Japie Mulder.
Lomu will be back with a vengeance. His try against England where he virtually ran over the top of fullback Mike Catt after shrugging aside Tony Underwood is only a small pointer to what he is capable of down the line.
Mulder deserves more credit than he has received. He is the kind of centre every coach dreams of: tight in defence, strong on his feet in the crash ball situation and elusive as all getout in the broken field play. Another South African who has not had his full share of praise is the massive lock Kobus Wiese. Often the odd man out when the locks were selected, the decision to pick Mark Andrews at No 8 for the final two matches opened the door for him. He delivered with all his
In this Wiese was not alone. Joel Stransky’s 15-point haul in the final was both credit to the calm confidence and resilience of the man not considered good enough to go to New Zealand as it was to a team who battled manfully throughout to get their flyhalf into scoring positions. Everyone delivered.
In the clutch, Stransky proved that the silky skills of All Black Andrew Mehrtens might be beautiful to watch but that the Western Province pivot is probably without equal in the world in pressure situations.
Here Stransky, like all the rest of the South Africans, faces a dilemma. They have proved they are the best in the world. They will have to keep on doing so. Such is the burden of a world champion, but one they will undoubtedly be willing to bear.