WATCH | OR Tambo packed to rafters as fans await world champion Boks

31 October 2023 - 09:52 By Mahlatse Mphahlele at OR Tambo International Airport
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A screenshot of a video of supporters dancing as they await the arrival of the world champion Springboks at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.
A screenshot of a video of supporters dancing as they await the arrival of the world champion Springboks at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.
Image: Thabo Tshabalala

OR Tambo Airport was already a hive of activity by 9am on Tuesday morning with throngs of rugby supporters eagerly awaiting the arrival of the triumphant Springboks from the World Cup in France.

The Springboks are expected to touch down just after 10am with captain Siya Kolisi, departing coach Jacques Nienaber, director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and senior players expected to brief the media.

South Africa were crowned champions of the world after a nail-biting 12-11 win over their greatest rivals New Zealand in the final at the Stade de France on Saturday night.

Staunch Boks fan Hugo Steenkamp said he had been waiting since 8pm.

“I am here to welcome our heroes, they have done the country proud and they deserve recognition from all South Africans,” Steenkamp said.

Fellow fan Thabo Moroka shared his sentiments.

“These guys have made us proud and I am here to welcome them like heroic soldiers coming back from war,” Moroka said.

The Springboks embark on a celebratory trophy tour in the coming days of four provinces — Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape — with more satellite tours set for next year.

“The tour will start in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto — concluding at FNB Stadium — on Thursday, and take in Cape Town (Friday) and Durban (Saturday) before concluding in the Eastern Cape (East London) on Sunday,” Saru said in a statement.

“The locations have been selected for population size in the first three instances and because of the Eastern Cape’s rugby significance in the fourth.

“Satellite tours to Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay and other centres will be scheduled for 2024. Such tours after the 2019 victory had to be abandoned because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Boks became the second team to defend a Rugby World Cup title after New Zealand, and the first to reach four titles, to New Zealand's three.


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