The Springboks paid a surprise visit to former SA President Nelson Mandela at his hotel in Paris on Thursday.

Also present were Dr Syd Millar and Mike Miller of the IRB who presented Mandela with a special gift bearing the inscription:

“Presented by the IRB to Mr Nelson Mandela, who during Rugby World Cup 1995 united his nation under the banner of rugby.”

Millar said: “We were honoured to be here to meet Mr Mandela to recognise what he’s done for the game of rugby football in South Africa, and all around the world, and give him a specially created glass rugby ball with an inscription, just thanking him for what he’d done to unite the nation in 1995. A wonderful man.”

Mandela addressed the excited players.

“Sports is the one thing which is understood by people who may not know Afrikaans, or English, or Xhosa or Sesotho and is the best way to convey messages to those who do not understand our land.

“The nature of sport is that one team wins and the other loses, so you must not be upset if that happens against you because we know your caliber, we know that you are determined to be top sportsmen and with these words I wish you all the best.”

The Boks presented him with captain John Smit’s No 2 jersey.

“The stars are aligning themselves,” said a visibly ecstatic Jake White.

“It is amazing that he is Paris, that he held the Webb Ellis Cup he’s had in his hands before, the speech he gave, what more do you want. I don’t think we need to do any more team talks now. You could just have recorded that and played it to the players for the rest of the tournament.

“I think it’s a massive thing. It shows how passionate Madiba is about the players, about rugby and the World Cup. It’s special.

“It’s an unbelievable experience. The players can’t wait to start now. Everything has been so professionally run and to have an added bonus of meeting Madiba and listening to him talk, and being so close to him and seeing how genuine he is about South Africa and the Springboks is amazing – you can’t help but be moved.

“All we can do now is make sure we deliver on the field,” concluded White.

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