One year ago: Springboks crowned World Cup champions
Monday marks exactly one since the Springboks were crowned Rugby World Cup champions in Japan.
South Africa thumped England 32-12 in the final in Yokohama to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy for a third time.
That famous night in Japan would also be the last time the Springboks would be in action with the Covid-19 pandemic bring the international rugby season to an abrupt halt.
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“We all remember where we were a year go with amazing celebrations, not just on the day, but the week after with the trophy tour around the country where lot of people went around watching the Springboks bringing the trophy home,” says rugby analyst Brenden Nel.
“Since then, it has been rather strange because we have been so used to the rugby season to have its own journey, and the rugby season to have its own ups and downs, and we’ve had absolutely nothing of that at the moment. Here we are sitting and we haven’t had a test match since.
“We finally got rugby back on the field with Super Rugby Unlocked now, but it’s not quite the same and we miss the Test matches, we miss the anthem, we miss the green and gold, passion and all of that.”
The British & Irish Lions are due to tour South Africa in 2012 and the first test against the famous red jersey could very well be the Springboks’ first match since the World Cup final.
Nel says the Boks’ potential lack of preparation ahead of what will be a massive series is a real concern.
“We are going to have a British & Irish Lions tour coming along, which is as big as the World Cup, if not bigger in some way. We have the new coach Jacques Nienaber, who was the defence coach for the Boks at the World Cup.
“He has not played a Test match as a coach and has been in the job for almost a year, and you got to feel for him because his first game will be against the British & Irish Lions. It is going to be a tough road when we see the Boks back, but I am sure there is a lot of plans made in the interim to give them some preparation and to give those players some necessary experience they need before such a big event.”