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

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. 

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.