South African players bow to supporters as Welsh players (R) leave the field after the Rugby World Cup 2019 semifinal match between South Africa and Wales at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama City, Japan, 27 October 2019. Picture: EPA-EFE / MARK R. CRISTINO
Everybody loves a good omen and if Springbok supporters are into this kind of stuff, they’ll definitely start believing that Rassie Erasmus’ troops can claim a third Rugby World Cup title when they take on England on Saturday.
The stars indeed seem to be freakishly aligned for South Africa to experience glory in Tokyo. Most pertinently, the Boks haven’t lost any final they’ve appeared in since 1995 and, neatly, had the English as opponents in 2007’s triumph.
A victory would also mean that South Africa’s habit of winning the Cup every 12 years remains steadfastly intact (1995, 2007 and 2019). There will also be some shouting of curses in an attempt to continue England’s bad luck in the showpiece match.
Jonny Wilkinson might have inspired their 20-17 win against the Wallabies in 2003 – after extra time – but they’ve also lost two other finals: the 6-15 reverse to the Boks and 1991’s dour 6-12 defeat against Australia.
Mind you, every time England have stumbled, they’ve only scored six points.
Pundits love to talk about teams “peaking” at the right time during a tournament of this magnitude.
The theory goes that a Cup-winning team must steadily improve as their campaign progresses.
As a result, some people will argue this benefits the Springboks, too, as they haven’t exactly hit their straps in Japan and are due a more complete performance.
That thought undoubtedly was the cornerstone of Erasmus’ parody Twitter account, @coachrassie, tweeting: “And please SA, no more comments on Willie (Le Roux) or Faf (de Klerk) this week.”
Fullback Le Roux has been heavily criticised for his continued inclusion despite performing way below par.
However, sympathisers believe the mercurial player is just 80 minutes away from a few moments of magic.
Peaking might also be bad news for England after their masterclass against the All Blacks in the first semifinal, where they got their tactics and execution spot-on to dump 2015’s champions into Friday’s third-place playoff against Wales.
As outgoing Welsh coach, Warren Gatland, asked: did Eddie Jones’ charges play their “final” one week too early?
Jones was typically sharp-tongued in hitting back: “Well, guys, can you just send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place play-off.”
A look into the crystal ball after the tournament might also be promising for the Boks.
Every British & Irish Lions tour to SA since readmission has been contested with the home side being current world champions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pledge to Bok skipper Siya Kolisi to “lift the Cup with him” this weekend, however, could come back to haunt him.
Thabo Mbeki celebrated with John Smit and company on that glorious 2007 night in Paris. A year later, he was recalled as state president.
– news@citizen.co.za
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