THE Covid-19 pandemic has the rugby world looking back at all kinds of archives from the most iconic tries, to the most memorable games, tournaments and players.

In The Grubber, we are looking at the most memorable moments in rugby that happened on Southern Hemisphere soil.

It was incredibly difficult to compile such a list, considering how much happened in the last decade. We have seen rule changes to the game, the All Blacks’ dominance and a Springbok resurgence under Rassie Erasmus. This list includes iconic individual performances, great upsets, unlikely comebacks and history making tournament runs.

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10. Patrick Lambie’s match-winning kick against the All Blacks. 

The Emirates Airline Park is regarded as an unofficial home-ground for the Springboks. This ground has already seen a classic between the All Blacks and the Springboks in the groundbreaking 1995 Final and even though this Rugby Championship clash didn’t carry the same importance, the atmosphere and the tension of the game was worthy of any World Cup finals encounter.

Patrick Lambie’s calm head and world class boot saw the Boks over the line with a 27-25 victory over the New Zealanders. The 52-metre kick in the 78th minute proved to be the decisive moment of the game and probably a highlight of Heynecke Meyer’s reign as Springbok coach.

Click here, to re-live Lambie’s match-winning kick.

9. UCT’s Ikey Tigers pull off a miraculous come-from-behind win over Pukke. 

This 2014 Varsity Cup Final at the Fanie Du Toit Stadium in Potchestroom is regarded as the best Varsity Cup Final of all time.

The game had it all, two referees (A strange Varsity Cup experiment), yellow cards, long range tries and a capacity packed crowd. NWU Pukke blew an almost impossible lead of 33-15, the Ikeys scored three tries in six minutes!

Pukke could’ve avoided this heartbreak if they kicked the ball out in final minute, instead they decided to run the ball from their own half and rest is etched in Varsity sports history.

UCT went on to claim their maiden Varsity Cup trophy with a 39-33 victory.

Click here, to experience the most remarkable sporting comeback.

8. Dan Carter’s final game for the All Blacks. 

Arguably the greatest flyhalf to ever play the game, produced an absolute clinic in his final ever game for the All Blacks.

In his 112th Cap for the men in black – Carter rolled back the years with his clinical kicking game and his effortless nature with ball-in-hand and impeccable defence as he led the All Blacks to a 34-17 victory over their cross-Tasmanian rivals at the home of rugby in Twickenham.

The Man of the Match scored 19 points on the day, including 12 tackles, in what was a fairytale send-off after he missed the 2011 World Cup Final on home soil, through injury.

Click here, to re-live Carter’s masterclass

7. British and Irish Lions’ Tour Down Under 

The British Lions tour to Australia in 2013 was the Lions’ first series win since their tour of South Africa in 1997.

Warren Gatland’s Welsh influenced side played 10 games on tour, including a friendly game against The Barbarians in Hong Kong.

Flanker, Sam Warburton, led his side to a 2-1 series win over Australia, with the stand-out win being the decisive final test – where the men in red thrashed a hapless Wallabies side 41-16.

It was a start contrast from the first two nail-bitting encounters with the Lions winning the first test 23-21 and lost their second test 16-15.

Click here, to re-live the Lions’ rollercoaster tour down under

6. The Reds 2011 Super Rugby victory

A remarkable season by the men from Queensland as they dominated the first season under the new 15-team format as they topped the round-robin log.

Cult hero, Quade Cooper, was the top point scorer with 228 points along with his extravagant side steps and passes.

Cooper formed a formidable partnership with scrumhalf, Will Genia, who scored a brilliant long range try against the mighty Crusaders.

Other players who had stand-out seasons were Captain, James Horwill, Ridike Samu, Digby Ioane, Ben Tapuai and Rob Simmons.

The Reds won the final 18-12 against a start-studded Crusaders outfit that lost their home ground due to the earthquake in Christchurch.

Click here, to re-watch The Reds making history over the Crusaders

5.  British and Irish Lions’ win in Wellington. 

Warren Gatland’s men made history on their 2017 tour to New Zealand.

The second test had a lot of drama with the sending off of Sonny Bill Williams earlier on in the game.

Even though the Northern Hemisphere side played 65 minutes with a numerical advantage, the edged the All Blacks, curtesy of an Owen Farrell penalty, to win the game 24-21.

This was the Lions’ first win over New Zealand since their 1993 tour, when they won 20-7. It was also New Zealand’s first home defeat since 2009 against the Springboks.

Click here, to re-watch this enticing clash between two heavyweights.

4. Baby Boks’ historic win over New Zealand in the Junior Rugby World Cup in Cape Town. 

The Junior Springboks are yet to match their special 2012 campaign in Cape Town, where they won the tournament for the second time and for the first time as an U20 tournament.

This Baby Boks side featured the likes of Springboks, Dillyn Leyds, Raymond Rhule, Jan Serfontein, Steven Kitshoff and Teenager Handre Pollard – who went on to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup with Kitshoff.

French International,Paul Willemse, also featured in the final and was sin-binned. The youngsters triumphed 22-16 and Handre Pollard announced himself to rugby world while in matric!

Click here, to watch Handre Pollard punching above his weight in the final at the iconic Newlands.

3. Japan’s upset over the much-fancied Springboks in Brighton 

The 2015 Rugby World Cup produced some incredible moments but none come close to Japan’s historic group-stage win over the Springboks.

Heynecke Meyer’s men went into their first game of the tournament as favourites for not only the clash but the tournament as a whole.

Eddie Jones’ men played fearless rugby throughout the clash, with their running rugby and went on to shock the rugby world with a 34-32 win. This win inspired Japan as a nation to embrace the game and they carried the momentum over into the 2019 World Cup, which they hosted.

Click here, to re-live the greatest upset in Rugby World Cup history.

2. Siya Kolisi becoming the first black Springbok captain.

In 2018, Stormers captain, Siya Kolisi, made history by becoming the first black player to named as captain of the Springboks in its 126-year history.

This decision has been regarded as a masterstroke by Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus. Kolisi was picked on merit as the captain as Rassie assured the media that he was the best man for the job and it wasn’t a political decision.

Kolisi’s first game as captain was against Eddie Jones’ in-form England side, the same team he would go on and lift the William Web-Ellis cup against in Japan a year later.

Click here, to watch Kolisi running on as Springbok captain for the first time, in their win over England.

1. South Africa winning their third Rugby World Cup in Yokohama. 

The Springboks had a stellar 2019 by winning their first Rugby Championship since 2009 and their third World Cup when they outclassed England, 32,12.

A repeat of the 2007 final saw the Springboks dominate the favourites, England, in every facet of the game.

The forwards were too strong in the breakdown, scrums and line-outs and the backs showed their skills and pace with Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe becoming the first South Africans to score in a World Cup final.

Click here, to watch the extended highlights of a magical night in Yokohama.

 

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