The Springboks pay respect to a boisterous crowd. (Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
The Irish, known to be some of the most hospitable people in the planet, give you “a hundred thousand welcomes” when they’re happy to see you.
South Africans can go way better than that as our conquering Springbok heroes arrive back on home soil: We Say 57 Million Welcomes, boys!
The entire South African contingent which went to Japan to collect the Webb Ellis Cup have done us proud as a nation. And not just on the rugby field.
From the way our fans – some cross-cultural dressing, to be sure – belted out the national anthem and proudly waved our flag, to the diminutive Faf de Klerk greeting Prince Harry in his SA flag underpants (while Frans Steyn offered the prince a beer), we showed the world we are still a country of adventure, of wonder and of a live-and-let-live attitude … with just a touch of mischief thrown in.
When we won, we did so graciously. When we lost (as we only did once, against the All Blacks in the opening match) we did so in a mature, sportsman-like way. Our arch-foes, the Kiwis, acknowledged (to the chagrin of England) that the Springboks were the only team they feared in the world. And when we won, the All Blacks were one of the first to applaud, saying: “Enemies on the field, friends off it”.
We made many friends at the World Cup, but particularly among the Japanese, even though we beat them in a hard-fought quarterfinal. It was a good decision by coach Rassie Erasmus to go to Japan early, both in rugby preparation terms and in winning the diplomacy game with the locals.
We played hard and we played clean (with very minor exceptions and even then these were mistakes).
Most of all, we did it as a united team of diverse people. Let’s hope that spirit continues.
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