All roads lead to Paris: Boks, All Blacks final promises to be one for the ages

“It doesn't get bigger than this,” Faf de Klerk beamed at the prospect of meeting the Springboks' greatest foes, the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final at Stade de France on Saturday.

For many Springboks, and indeed All Blacks, it is the pinnacle match-up in the sport. It dominates the rugby landscape like the Eiffel Tower the Paris skyline.

“It's huge,” said De Klerk about the match-up steeped in history. “I don't think as a player it will ever get any bigger. I don't think it's stuff that you can dream about because it doesn't happen often. I don't think it will happen in our lifetime again, to have two teams like this.”

The result of Saturday's match will be as keenly felt in New Zealand as it will in South Africa. Rugby brings a sense of pride and is woven into the fabric of both countries' national identity. Two far flung countries from south of the equator, whose existence is all but defined by their exploits on the rugby field.

In some ways South Africa and New Zealand have a symbiotic relationship.

They are opposite sides of the same coin. The Springboks and the All Blacks need each other. They feed off each other. When they compete they demand excellence of the other. It has helped set them apart. It is no coincidence that they've won two thirds of the nine RWCs played. That ratio will be higher come Saturday evening.

Their relationship will be taken to another level in the not too distant future when they start longer tours to each other's shores.

The Springboks and the All Blacks have met 105 times but Saturday is only the second time they contest the right to hold the Webb Ellis Cup aloft.

What further elevates Saturday's clash is that the winner will be the first to win the cup four times.

“If you look what's at stake ... we're both going for a fourth title, we're hoping to go back-to-back (NZ did in 2011 and 2015),” reminded De Klerk. “It's a feeling you get inside. Supporters can feel it. It is special and I feel really privileged to find myself in this situation. It is spectacular. I'm looking forward to it.

“There is a lot more to play for than just that cup. There are a lot of different reasons. I think you are going to see some unbelievable rugby this weekend,” said the scrumhalf whose choice of underwear in the Springboks' change room celebrations after the last final attracted the attention of a global audience.

The last time the teams met in the final proved seminal for South African rugby in 1995.

“It means a lot because of the history we have with them, the great match in 1995,” said De Klerk. “Getting to play them in the final again brings back a lot of memories for a lot of people back home. A lot of us were a bit too young to watch that game but that’s where the rivalry really started and looking at the players they have in their side, guys that we’ve been looking up to since we were at school, playing their final games now — there’s a lot that’s special about this game. To say you dreamed about this is probably wrong because I don’t think you dream that far. If it’s my last game, I want to remember it for putting everything on the line.”

Captain Siya Kolisi also recognises the significance of that final and he too did not picture himself on rugby's most lit stage. “The game from 1995, it's so special. I think I was four then,” Kolisi recalled. “I didn't get to watch but obviously seeing videos of it and also the significance of the game is huge. It opened a lot of doors for me and many others. It was an important game not just for the Eastern Cape, I think for South Africa in general.

“It can't get bigger than this. It will mean a lot to South Africa, as we've seen what's happening back at home. I am sure you've seen all the videos that are coming through. It's huge, I can't explain it.”

Bok loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff explained how a match against the All Blacks is an elevated experience. Former captain John Smit had noted sagely that a player can make their debut but when they play the All Blacks they make another.

“I made my debut against Ireland but then I played the All Blacks and it felt like I never played a Test before.”

This weekend's game he admits feels even a notch higher. It has taken him places emotionally he has not been before. The prop did, however, promise some exhilarating rugby. “Building up to this week is a different level of nerves, that I haven't felt before. I think there is no outside motivation needed. The way we've prepped the way we've done our analysis, the road we had to take to get here, all roads leads to this final.”

EDITORIAL | Boks seek history, and a nation’s will just might carry them to it

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the collective will of 60-million people could get them over the line this one last time

These Springboks have already done so much. 

They are, surely, the most-supported Bok team across all cultures and races that South Africa has seen. They have won a World Cup in 2019. They are into a second final. 

They have galvanised a nation and, in four years as champions, altered perceptions of rugby as staid and conservative. Their victories in the quarterfinal against hosts France and semifinal against England in the 2023 Rugby World Cup were spectacularly enthralling and nail-biting. 

Their bravery and commitment is an inspiration for a nation seeking heroes. 

So what more could they do? 

Is it too much to ask that these seemingly superhuman men of rugby put their bodies on the line again, their spirits to the test, their courage to the fore one more time, in the greatest contest rugby has seen — the Springboks against the All Blacks — and enter the pantheon of the sport’s greats. 

They have given so much in pleasure and pride through pure effort, it almost seems impolite to ask for any more. 

Yet that is what the 2023 Springboks will do if they win the dream final at Stade de France on Saturday. They will join New Zealand as the only team to defend the Rugby World Cup. Their names are already written in history as World Cup champions. Defend a World Cup and the engraving will be in gold plate. 

That has to be a huge source of motivation. Perhaps it is greedy as South Africans to ask for such pride and glory to be bestowed on us by these mere mortals who are, after all, not superhumans — just remarkable sports men and athletes. 

Many of us have, though, over these four years grown to love them for their remarkable qualities, so we wish and will it for them. 

That is why, rhetoric aside, the better part of 60-million South Africans will, like the supporter Kabelo Moumakwe, whose histrionics in his living room had millions in stitches, jump around our lounges, and in the bars and taverns. 

We will draw imaginary streepies on our screens and in our minds for Handré Pollard’s kicks, ruck our cushions for Siya Kolisi’s ball wins, and terrorise our pets with screams of “hier kom kak” when the All Blacks attack, or when Boks are about to instil kak. 

The will of a nation is there, too, and perhaps it’s not insignificant force can help carry these super-committed heroes over the line in another thriller. 

MARK KEOHANE | There will be no love lost in the City of Love on Saturday

Recent history points to an extremely close final between rugby’s biggest rivals

The predicted rain in Paris on Saturday night will favour the Springboks in their Rugby World Cup final showdown with the All Blacks. Their power pack and selection of seven forwards among the eight substitutes also gives them the edge in what will be a titanic battle.

Whichever team wins will create World Cup history.

The Springboks and All Blacks are joint record holders of the most World Cup titles, with three each. The Springboks, though, have never lost a final and the All Blacks' only defeat in a final came 28 years ago against the Boks in Johannesburg.

The Bok versus All Blacks rivalry is the grandest and greatest in world rugby and when it comes to World Cups it has gone full cycle. 

The two teams met at the first possible attempt in 1995, and appropriately it was in a final. They continued the rivalry in 1999, in a third and fourth play-off, in a match that ended with a 22-18 Boks win.

In 2003, they played out a one-sided 29-9 New Zealand quarterfinal win in Melbourne, Australia, but had to wait until 2015 to play again in what was the most thrilling of semifinals that New Zealand won 20-18 at Twickenham.

There would be one more match-up at the 2019 World Cup, which was the tournament opener for the two teams. The All Blacks won 23-13 in the only time the two have played a World Cup pool match against each other. 

The Boks, despite their first-up defeat, became the first team to lose a pool match and win the World Cup.

The All Blacks are now chasing a similar kind of history, having lost their 2023 World Cup opener to hosts France.

The World Cup history, five clashes between the two giants in every possible guise, now starts again with a final. Never has a World Cup showdown been as eagerly anticipated.

Who wins on Saturday night? Ask any South African and they will say the Boks. Ask any New Zealander and they will say the All Blacks.

Recent history of matches between these two teams suggests that trying to call this final comes down to an emotional bias and subjectivity, depending on whether you are South African or a Kiwi.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster has been involved with the All Blacks as head coach and assistant since Rassie Erasmus/Jacques Nienaber left Munster to lead the Boks in 2018. In that time the two teams have met 10 times and the Boks have won four, drawn one and the All Blacks have won five. Both teams have scored 30-plus points on four occasions and both teams have beaten the other away from home and on neutral territory. The All Blacks have scored 27 tries to the Springboks' 24 tries in these 10 Tests and the Boks, with 247 points to the All Blacks' 240 points, on average get the win by less than a point: 24.7 plays 24.

That is how close it is — and has been — with this group of Bok and All Blacks players.

There was the pre-World Cup smackdown for the All Blacks at Twickenham. The Boks won 35-7 to inflict the biggest defeat in All Blacks history. It was an aberration, in terms of result, though the Boks, in using seven forwards and one back split at Twickenham, finally believe they have the formula to suffocate the All Blacks' all-out attack.

There is acknowledgment of the All Blacks' improvement as a forward unit since Jason Ryan joined from the Crusaders. There is respect for the collective strength of their starting pack, but there is a belief that South Africa’s firepower, to be introduced in the second half, is unmatched, and that this, combined with the goal-kicking of Bok flyhalf Handré Pollard, will be South Africa’s golden World Cup title ticket.

There will always be ifs and buts. There will always be questions about the match officiating and referee interpretation and opinion will always be divided about who will win.

If you want anything that resembles unanimous agreement, don’t ask a question but simply make the statement that it does not get bigger than the Springboks versus the All Blacks in a World Cup final.

And given the love for rugby in both countries, how appropriate that they get to decide the title in the City of Love.

Boks by one, says the South African in me.

LIAM DEL CARME | To become truly global, rugby must broaden its base

Tier two teams need game-time and meaningful competition

One after the other as they exited the Rugby World Cup, coaches of tier two teams lamented the raw deal they have, not just at the game’s showpiece event but in general.

They all sighed at the lack of game-time and in a broader sense competition. While the so-called tier one nations play about a dozen matches on an annual basis the minnows play infrequently. Samoa at the time of writing had no matches scheduled next year.

Tier two teams certainly don’t play enough to get them into the shape needed to challenge the more established nations at the RWC. Yet teams like Fiji, Samoa, Portugal and Tonga to an extent, all richly contributed to the spectacle of the 10th RWC.

Their fans, though not as large in numbers, are every bit as passionate as those who watch Six Nations and Rugby Championship matches.

It is no coincidence that some of the lower ranked teams have performed better at this RWC. World Rugby has pumped significant funds into the development of the sport but throwing money at the problem doesn’t address all the ills.

Tier two teams need game-time and meaningful competition.

Their cries have been listened to but not entirely answered. World Rugby announced earlier this week that the Nations Cup (an official name yet to be confirmed) as well as the Challenger Cup will kick off in 2026.

The Nations Cup will feature the Six Nations teams and the six teams from an expanded Rugby Championship. Apart from the matches in their traditional competitions, they will also play during the July and November windows in matches that will count towards the overall points table. After 11 matches each, the top two teams progress to the final. The final, for now will be played in the northern hemisphere as the southern hemisphere teams will be in that neck of the woods anyway in November.

The new competitions are supposed to grow the game and increase its revenue potential.

Bill Beaumont, World Rugby’s chair sat in the auditorium at Roland Garros grinning like a Cheshire cat after the announcement.

As he took centre stage at Philippe Chatrier Stadium there was, however, the lingering suspicion that it is still avantage tier one nations.

They are still guaranteed a seat at rugby’s top table until 2030, some criticising the top tier as a “closed shop”. World Rugby argues, they’ll have it a lot better than is now the case.

Do the changes go far enough? There seems to be confusion whether promotion/relegation will occur in 2030 or if it was only agreed in principle.

A country like Italy would have been reluctant to make promotion/relegation part of the package but at least there now is a target.

As World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin pointed out good deals are brokered on the back of a bit of give and take.

In this case, however, it is not as if all the delegates are dealing on an equal footing.

The teams in the Challenger Cup will play against each other but in the year the competition is not contested, they will play crossover Tests against tier one nations. Those details need to be ironed out, but Gilpin assured Challenger Cup teams will play 50% more crossover matches against tier one nations from 2026.

While the introduction of the new competitions along with a more integrated season for rugby at Test and club level, are steps in the right direction, progress has been slow. No wonder some of the tier two teams are growing agitated. Rugby has always been a cumbersome mover when it comes to change.

If the sport is to become truly global it will have to broaden its base in every sense, sooner rather than later. That perhaps should include who gets to make those decisions but then again turkeys have their suspicions about Christmas.

‘The entire nation is standing behind them’: Bok moms’ messages to their sons

By Hendrik Hancke

Proud moms, in their green and gold, will be watching at home cheering their sons on

When he arrives at the Bok locker room on Saturday for the last time in his career, the man-mountain and backbone of the Bok forwards juggernaut, Duane Vermeulen, will not listen to voice notes sent to him by his mother before Saturday’s World Cup final for fear of becoming too emotional. 

Estelien Vermeulen’s voice is edged in emotion as she talks about her Springbok legend son. 

“I become very emotional in the hours leading up to a Bok Test and send Duane some tearful and passionate messages. He will reply ‘I saw your message Mom, but I will listen to it after the match’. He doesn’t want his emotional mother’s words to influence his mental state. For him it will be a time of focus,” Vermeulen told TimesLIVE Premium.

She will be watching the final at the Matumi Golf Estate in Mbombela. 

“Of all his 76 Test caps, this will be one of the most special because it will be the last one. When Duane walks off the field on Saturday, it will be the last time he does that dressed in green and gold.”

While Vermeulen has not publicly announced his retirement from Test rugby, Estelien said his team knew all about it.

“Even Rassie has spoken about Duane retiring after the World Cup. After Saturday he will play the next weekend for the Barbarians and then that will be that. But Saturday will be his last match in the green and gold.”

A “lifetime” spent on the sidelines cheering on her son is nearing its end.

“When I watch Duane play for the Boks, I see the last 30 years play out in front of me in phases of Duane growing up. I see the seven-year-old Duane with bare feet playing rugby in the snow, then the early teenager playing his heart out for the under 15C team.” 

Estelien sighs happily as she travels back in time. 

“The coach picked Duane for the C team because he was too clumsy after having grown 13cm in the previous December holiday. Shame, man, he looked like a baby giraffe — all wobbly knees and feet.

“Soon it was first-team Duane, then the Cheetahs, the Stormers, the Bulls and finally, the Springbok legend everybody knows and loves,” Vermeulen said.

Her husband André passed away from cancer in January 1994, when Duane was seven.

She has a message for her son. 

“I hope you have a special day. That you stand in the middle of that field with your head held high, pulling the pillars down on the people you face. My wish for you is that you finish your Bok career on Saturday on your own terms. I love you and I am so, so proud of you.”

Estelien will be dressed in her Bok finery. 

“I wore a different Bok shirt every day of this week. My nails are painted in green and gold and I am even wearing Bok earrings. It is Springboks all the way for us as a family.”

She is not the only Bok whose mother will be sitting on the edge of her seat this weekend. 

Mari Smith is the mother of Bok Bomb Squad powerhouse Kwagga Smith.

“I watched the quarterfinals and the semis in France with Kwagga’s wife Ilne, but I returned to our farm near Ohrigstad [Limpopo] on Tuesday. That England match nearly gave us all heart attacks.” 

She laughs almost nervously. 

“Near the end of the match Ilne took my hand and just said, ‘now we must pray,’ and we prayed them right through those last tense moments.” 

She says it was clear from a very young age that her son’s first love would be rugby.

“His first words were ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’, but after that he said ‘ball’. It is difficult to remember him as a little boy without a rugby ball in his hands.” 

Rugby runs through Kwagga’s veins.

“My brother, Torros Pretorius, played for the Cats years ago with people like Rassie Erasmus and Chester Williams. As a small boy Kwagga always said he wanted to play rugby like his uncle,” Mari said. 

He grew up with his older sibling Willem on the family farm between Lydenburg and Ohrigstad. 

“Willem is two years older than Kwagga and also played good rugby. It was only the two of them on the farm, so Kwagga grew up playing against Willem. I think that is part of why he is such a tough player these days.”

JONATHAN JANSEN | Lessons in winning: what Boks can teach our government

Gone are the days of muscles without brains, heads without hearts

As South Africa, the defending World Cup champions, prepares to defend its title on Saturday against “the auld enemy” (as Scottish fans call England) New Zealand, I cannot help but reflect on what rugby (still) teaches us about race.

Not too long ago there was still very strong resentment in some white quarters about “merit” and “quotas” when it came to black players selected for the national rugby team. Not anymore. Even the conservative Rapport newspaper on Sunday carried the headline, Ox-gelooflik (a play on the Afrikaans word ongelooflik or un-believable) to celebrate the mighty Retshegofaditswe “Ox” Nche who bulldozed the English pack into kingdom-come thereby setting up replacement flyhalf Handre Pollard for the penalty kick that delivered victory to the triumphant Boks. Until Ox came on, as part of the now famous set of second-half replacements called the bomb-squad, the South African team had been completely dominated by the English team playing in wet weather with a slippery ball and mesmerising Amabhokobhoko with swirling high kicks and disrupted lineouts.

Why did the question of “race” and merit go away in rugby but not in cricket, where there is a seething anger among lovers of the game that Temba Bavuma is still in the team despite a disastrous performance as top-order batsman in the shorter forms (20 overs and 50 overs) of the game (he is an exquisite Test batsman)? Rugby got right what the notoriously fickle and incompetent cricket administrators do not — to build a deep bench of top players and choose the best among them.

Rugby is now at the point where you can substitute a wildly popular black flyhalf in Mannie Libbok as early as the 31st minute of the first half with the experienced white stalwart, Handre Pollard, and there would be no negative reaction from the previously disenfranchised; they understood that the playing conditions against England on that wet day meant few tries and fewer high-jinks from our talented (black) wings. The slog game in weather required a different strategy and therefore a Pollard over Libbok. The coaches would repeat the mantra: the players understand that it is about the team. Big picture, in other words. Nice work.

Of course, race never goes away completely in the game of rugby. Nick Mallet made the ignorant comment on a televised show that “it (rugby) wasn’t a game 35 years ago played necessarily by the black population”. Seriously, when one of the first rugby outfits was Union Rugby Football Club established in Port Elizabeth in 1887. Perhaps he should also read Buntu Siwisa’s riveting new book (2022) titled Rugby, resistance and politics: How Dan Qeqe helped shape the history of Port Elizabeth. No, Nick, black South Africans are not latecomers to rugby simply because Siya Kolisi is our captain. Black players were excluded for much of a century from accessing the best resources, from coaching to rugby fields and playing opportunities, and that explains the success of our current team. We now draw on all our players for national teams and that is why we win.

Here is the big take-away from transformation in rugby. When black citizens see themselves represented on the field, they celebrate players like Handre. Similarly, when white citizens see people who look like them on the field, they make heroes out of players like Ox. There are so many lessons here for our befuddled government.

But there is something else much deeper that Rassie Erasmus, Jacques Nienaber, Mzwandile Stick and others have accomplished. They are rebuilding (it’s an ongoing process) the culture of rugby from its racist roots and invested in each of the players. Listen carefully to how Siya encourages, consoles and speaks well of all his players. Listen to how Jacques supports the captain on good days and bad. Gone are the days of muscles without brains, heads without hearts. And who can forget the clip of Rassie crying in the documentary Chasing the Sun as he told the story of star winger Makazole Mapimpi’s jersey. That is called leadership, the kind that unites us across the racial divides of the past.

Nelson Mandela knew what he was doing when he walked onto Ellis Park rugby stadium in 1995 with the captain’s number 6 jersey on the occasion of the first World Cup Rugby final between the Boks and the All Blacks. The leader knew then, and we saw it again last Saturday when we beat England in the semi-final, that grown men would be reduced to tears because of the game of rugby.

Madiba would be very proud of Rassie, Siya, the support staff and every one of the 33 players selected for this team. For once the colour green matters more than the accident of the epidermis. And that is why we win on and off the field.