By Laureus World Sports Academy Member and manager of 1995 South African World Cup winning team MORNÉ DU PLESSIS
I was very relieved that the Springboks won their first match in the Rugby World Cup, beating Wales 17-16, but my goodness it was close.
I thought the Welsh played really well, had a great game plan which they stuck to and we were only able to hang on to win thanks to some very experienced heads in our team.
It was a great occasion from the singing of the anthems and right through the match. There was great national pride out there and it was very emotional. I must admit that witnessing the singing of the anthems did bring back all those wonderful memories of when we won in 1995.
I was surprised and delighted that South Africa had such a quick start and began with open attacking rugby, but it didn’t last long. The Welsh kept cool, didn’t panic and then as they came back at us we showed a lot of nervousness. I thought we were very jittery and for a time did not look like world champions.
One of the big debates before the World Cup began was whether South Africa had too many older players in their squad. Yet in the end, when Wales were running at them, I think it was that experience which helped them to stay in the game and then come back to get the Hougaard try.
For me the best players were Francois Steyn and Bismarck du Plessis. When Bismarck came on, he showed what an outstanding tackler he is and great at delivering turnovers. Fourie du Preez did not have his best game, but he is a calming influence, which was needed, and of course he was there to provide the pass for the crucial try.
When Bismarck came on to replace captain John Smit as hooker for the last quarter of the game it certainly helped to sharpen the Springboks and I am sure there will be some comment now that he should be on the field from the start. But you cannot fault Smit and we should not underestimate the leadership role that he plays. The team looks to him and he is a real leader on the field. I think coach Pete de Villiers will stick to this plan with Bismarck coming on as an explosive impact player at some point in each game. What a luxury for a coach to have.
I expect there will be some criticism of the Springboks now, but we need to remember what a tough game this was always going to be. You can’t underestimate the pressure of your first match in the World Cup and this was the only match in the first series of eight games that brought together two of the top teams, so it was always going to be a mighty collision.
I have talked a lot about South Africa, but I don’t want people to think I am ignoring Wales. I thought they were great. There were lots of terrific performances. I thought their three-quarters were excellent, especially Jamie Roberts and Toby Faletau, who is just 20. Their young captain Sam Warburton deserved to be man of the match.
South Africa and Wales should be favourites to go through from their pool, but with Fiji and Samoa to play it’s going to be tough. This really is an incredibly difficult pool, but I think long term this will pay dividends. You build up your toughness in training, but some good physical games early on can put you in the peak of condition.
I know a lot of the young people from Laureus Sport for Good Foundation supported rugby projects in Soweto and at the Legends Cup in Cape Town – and other rugby-based projects around the world – will have watched the game. I hope they will have learned something from the spirit in which the game was played.
It was a tough match, as we know all the games in this pool are going to be, but it was fair, there was respect for the rules and the officials and the team spirit of both sides was good to see. There are great lessons for life here as I know our project leaders will be pointing out and let’s hope the youngsters find some new great role models they can relate to.
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