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Coaches came and went as the Springboks recorded memorable wins and losses
The past decade in rugby began with a bang as Soweto hosted its first Super Rugby final, and ended with the Springboks winning their third World Cup title.
We look at the highs and some of the lows in between:
2010 – When the Bulls took their home Super Rugby final against the Stormers to Orlando Stadium – because Loftus Versfeld was being refurbished for the Soccer World Cup – the vibe created by that game, as well as the semifinal against the Crusaders, was expected to be the first of many examples of rugby bringing the game to the townships. Little did anyone know that the Bulls’ 25-17 win would be the last time a South African team hosted a final.
2011 – Having won the Rugby World Cup in 2007 with a relatively young side, this was supposed to be the year a record-breaking Springbok team (think of the British and Irish Lions series win in 2009 and the Tri-Nations title the same year) became the first team to successfully defend the Webb Ellis Cup. But they hadn’t bargained with officiating so one-sided by New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence in the 11-9 quarterfinal defeat to Australia that it was easier to suspect it was deliberate. It didn’t help South Africans to learn that Lawrence was the New Zealand Referee of the Year in the same year the All Blacks regained the World Cup for the first time since 1987.
2014 – A Heyneke Meyer tenure, which had seen a first defeat to Argentina at home and a first-ever loss to Japan at the World Cup in Brighton, in England, did have its highs – notably, the Boks’ 27-25 win against the All Blacks at Ellis Park in 2014. Utility back Pat Lambie sealed the 50m-plus penalty after a TV producer had played a Liam Neesam foul on Schalk Burger just enough times for the referee to notice and give a last-ditch penalty. But the stars of the show were two-try hero Handre Pollard, who’d played fly half for the SA Under-20s just weeks before, and number eight Duane Vermeulen, who ignored a rib injury to put in a man of the match performance.
2015 – The defeat to Japan at the Rugby World Cup in Brighton has already been mentioned, but the magnitude was such that it bears repeating. Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, who had been assistant coach when the Boks won the 2007 World Cup, told everyone who cared that his Japanese minnows were targeting their game against the two-time world champs as one to win. When they somehow prevailed 34-32 thanks to a late effort by Karne Hesketh, not only was nobody laughing Jones out of town, but a whole movie was also made of the seismic upset.
2016 – The understated Allister Coetzee’s appointment to succeed the often emotional Meyer was expected to steady things with the Boks. But two 50-pointers conceded against the All Blacks that year, and a first-ever loss to Italy suggested he was maybe not what SA Rugby were looking for.
2016 – Amid all that doom and gloom, the Blitzboks team outdid themselves in the 2016/17 World Series, winning five of the 10 events and finishing second three times in the remainder. It’s the kind of dominance that made up for their disappointment in “only” winning bronze at the Rio Olympics, the first Olympics at which rugby sevens was included, even though it was South Africa’s first-ever medal at the event.
2016 – For some reason, Bryan Habana doesn’t get his dues for being a Springbok legend. The poor blighter has only equalled Jonah Lomu’s World Cup records twice – the first for most tries at a single tournament (eight) and the other for most tries at a World Cup (15). Habana took too many games for the latter record, his detractors carp. So he went and passed David Campese’s record of 64 tries for the most Tier One tries scored in international history by setting the new record at 67. Still, his haters weren’t happy...
2018 – With the Boks at an all-time low, SA Rugby rolled the dice and went to Munster, KwaZulu-Natal, to fetch their former high performance manager Rassie Erasmus and appointed him in the unprecedented role of director of rugby and head coach. Equally unprecedented was the length of his contract, six years, which led many to question his Messiah status within SA Rugby.
2018 – Erasmus began his tenure by turning a century of rugby tradition on its head and naming Siya Kolisi as his captain, meaning the formerly impoverished youngster from Zwide township in Port Elizabeth became the country’s first black Springbok. At the time, Erasmus was seen to be playing to the transformation gallery, but Kolisi has since admirably led the team to its third World Cup title.
2019 – Having given us a glimpse of the team’s huge potential under Erasmus by coming back from 12-0 down to effect the miracle of Wellington by beating the All Blacks 36-34 last year, the Boks kicked into overdrive this year. First they won the Rugby Championship for the first time since winning the 2009 Tri-Nations, and won their third World Cup by being the first team to do so despite losing a group game (to the All Blacks). Few results have been more seismic, and one suspects the celebrations are still going strong.
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