Part 1: The Spingboks Campaign

From game saving penalty blocks, to game winning penalty kicks and tries, the story of the Springbok 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign, is one to be remembered.

South Africa were the defending world cup champions after having won the 2019 world cup in Japan. However, the coaching spearhead of the team, Rassie Erasmus, often said that winning the world cup in 2019 was a bonus achievement, and that winning the 2024 world cup in Paris was always the main goal ever since he was appointed head coach in 2018. If this was the case, the Springboks were surely going to be a massive threat in this Paris world cup.

South Africa weren’t the top ranked team coming into the tournament, and many other nations were also favourites to win the tournament. There was also a stand out player that was getting a lot of the media’s attention. Antoine Dupont. Since I hadn’t watched rugby since the last 2019 world cup, I was unfamiliar with the hype following this french rugby star. But as I later witnessed his quarter final performance, his quality was convincing. Finn Russell, Owen Farrell, Ardie Savea, and Johnny Sexton were some of the other stars that pundits believed were to be the difference makers for their teams.

As their world cup defense campaign got underway, I knew I was watching a very special Springboks team. The quality and prowess in their opening game against Scotland showed just how prepared the coaches and players were. Sporting a neon green and white away kit, they looked the part of a very dangerous team. The best highlight of this game was Manie Libbok’s no-look, nonchalant kick pass out wide to Kurt-Lee Arendse, who then used his speed to score a try. They won this game in style: 18-3.

After then beating Romania and Tonga, South Africa faced Ireland for their last pool game. Ireland were the top ranked team coming into the tournament, making the matchup with the defending champions an enticing test match encounter. The game was played at an electric pace and both sides played rugby of the highest level for the full 80 minutes.

Manie Libbok and Faf de Klerk cost the Springboks crucial points as they missed some of their penalty kicks under pressure. But the Springboks kept their resolve, and showed their togetherness, as they were willing to find more solutions to score more points. The Irish were an energised side with lightning quick passes, hand-offs and passages of play. Their efforts on the field were greatly encouraged by the thousands of Irish fans who were clearly in majority over the South African fans in the packed Stade de France. In the end, it was Ireland’s night and once they had won the game 13-8, the stadium DJ knew exactly what to play to get the proud Irish fans going. Along with their jubilant cries of celebration, the electrified entrance of The Cranberries’ song “Zombie” blasted through the stadium, further commencing the Irish victory party.

Both teams had qualified for the knockout rounds and took the two top spots of Pool B. This win from Ireland gave their team and fans a lot of confidence that they were going to go all the way in this tournament, especially after beating the defending champions.

However, from a Springbok perspective, Ireland merely won the battle but not the world cup war…