10 things we didn't know about the 1995 Rugby World Cup in SA

21 June 2015 - 02:00 By SIMNIKWE XABANISA, LIAM DEL CARME and CRAIG RAY

Twenty years on, we look back at some of the moments of the most important rugby match in South Africa's history. Here are 10 things you probably didn't know about the 1995 Rugby World Cup. 1) Kitch Christie nearly quit before the tournamentIn the months before the tournament, there was a perception that there was a flyhalf crisis in the Springbok squad. Then SA Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) president Louis Luyt felt Naas Botha, who had retired in 1992, should be flyhalf and the late Christie disagreed.story_article_left1Christie ended the argument by throwing his car keys on the table and said: "Listen Doc, if you want to drive this bus you drive it yourself, but I'm not going to drive it for you."Luyt chased after him as he walked out and begged him to continue.2) If you want something done...South Africa's representatives on the refereeing panel were Ian Rodgers and Stef Neethling.Rodgers was not the type of bloke to sit idly, and when requests from foreign referees to meet Madiba drew a blank, he called the president and arranged a meet and greet himself.3) The tournament's biggest star almost didn't feature in it at allJonah Lomu, who stampeded the All Blacks into the final, had already shown early symptoms of nephrotic syndrome which afflicts him to this day. The burly winger felt drained and was bedridden between matches but his illness was then kept secret.full_story_image_hleft14) Some things just can't waitStill basking in the euphoria of their victory over the Wallabies in the tournament opener in Cape Town, Rudolf Straeuli had urgent business to attend to back home.The No8 was about to become a father and Morne du Plessis arranged for him to fly home that evening to attend the birth of daughter Rieze.full_story_image_vleft75) The referee called itEd Morrison, the Englishman who took charge of the final, had something of an epiphany ahead of the Boks' clash against New Zealand.As he watched the throngs descending on Ellis Park, Morrison said to his companions: "Something big is going to happen here today."full_story_image_hleft26) The Suzie story was true, maybe...Rory Steyn, former bodyguard to president Nelson Mandela and head of the All Blacks' security during the event, claimed the Kiwis allegations of being poisoned by a mystery woman named "Suzie" were true."There is no doubt that the All Blacks were poisoned two days before the final," Steyn wrote in his 2000 autobiography 'One Step Behind Mandela'. "When I got upstairs to the doctor's room, it looked like a battle zone. Players were lying all over the place with the doctor and physio injecting them. Now I was a police officer, I worked with facts. What my eyes told me that night was that the team had been deliberately poisoned. I was very angry that this happened in my country to people in my care."full_story_image_vleft37) The SAA Boeing flyover was conceived by an ad agencyThe popular theory is that the Boeing 747 that skimmed Ellis Park before the final was put together by World Cup organisers and SA Rugby.It was, in fact, a continuation of an advertising campaign conceived by agency Sonnenberg Murphy Leo Burnett along with client SA Airways. It cost $40, 000 at the time.8) Francois Pienaar was prank called by teammatesSkipper Francois Pienaar had forged a strong relationship with president Mandela in the months leading up to the tournament.Madiba regularly called Pienaar directly, including while he was in the bus on the way to the semifinal against France. But one-time burly prop Balie Swart, who did a passable Madiba impression, called Pienaar from his seat at the back of the team bus. The skipper sat upright and conversed with the "president" while the rest of the team rolled around with laughter at his expense.full_story_image_hleft49) One team, one country...Sarfu chief executive Edward Griffiths came up with the slogan just before the naming of the squad for the event. The idea was to shape the story of the Boks through the slogan, rather than have it shaped for them.Griffiths even promised the players that they would get R10 for every time "One Team, One Country" was mentioned in an interview that aired on TV or radio. Joel Stransky earned the most money.full_story_image_vleft510) Anthem changed at 11th hourThe squad spent weeks learning the full version of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika with a Xhosa professor so that they would send the right message at the opening game.At that stage, the anthem wasn't as it is today and was still two separate songs sung one after the other.Media manager Griffiths - before he was appointed chief executive - went to the TV truck on the night before the opening match to find out if all was in order as the opening ceremony choir had pre-recorded the anthem to be played before the Boks' match against Australia. It was the new anthem and the players didn't know it. He asked that they change it to the version the players knew."They didn't argue and called out the choir at 11pm that night and re-recorded the entire thing," he said.full_story_image_hleft6..

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