game against the Wallabies to a belief,
bound up by the coaching expertise of
Kitch Christie and the feverish support
of the nation, that they could have a
strong tournament.
“As the week progressed before the
final, we had a chance to study the All
Blacks and a chance to chat about it and
come up with some different scenarios
and plans,” five-eighths Joel Stransky
recalls.
[
WYNNE GRAY
]
another african safari
WYNNE GRAY IS THE SENIOR RUGBY WRITER AT THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
we witnessed
the best World Cup.
It’s time the rugby world returned to
embrace South Africa who hosted such an
epic event in 1995 and have been rebuffed
in the voting to host the last three events.
South Africa will contend for the 2023
tournament and already face competition
from Ireland, France, Italy and probably
USA when the hosting rights are
announced in mid-2017.
The 1995 World Cup was memorable for
so many reasons and for many of us
fortunate to attend and watch 32 matches
unfold in a month of apprehension and
wonder, no tournament has matched that
which traversed the Republic.
There were the rugby citadels in
Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and
Durban mixed in with the boutique
settings and rural arrangements at
Stellenbosch, East London, Bloemfontein
and Rustenburg.
Who could forget the drama of the
semifinal as the Springbok hosts waited to
see whether Kings Park in Durban would
be fit to play after a thunderstorm or
whether they would lose because of a
worse judicial record than France.
England were all puffed up about their
chances after the quarters when they
avenged their 1991 final defeat to
Australia by edging past the Wallabies.
Then they ran into Jonah Lomu or more
accurately, Lomu ran round and through
them as he claimed four tries.
The performances of Samoa added
another chapter to their prowess after the
way they had played four years earlier.
There was the advent of Sanzar and the
announcement of professional rugby on
the day before the final while across the
other side of Johannesburg, oblivious to
all except those inside the All Black camp,
the tourists were trying desperately to
cope with a bout of food poisoning.
Campaign manager Brian Lochore,
coach Laurie Mains and others held a
meeting in manager Colin Meads’ hotel
room because he was too ill to get out
of bed.
They considered their options and
decided against asking for a
postponement. They got the players
together and urged them to say nothing
although they feared the worst.
“If you had asked me what the score
was going to be on the Saturday morning
I would have said 30 to South Africa and
nil to New Zealand,” Lochore recalled.
Their Springbok opponents had
gathered pace from uncertainty about
whether they would win their opening
Who could forget the drama of the semifinal
as the Springbok hosts waited to see whether
Kings Park in Durban would be fit to play aer a
thunderstorm or whether they would lose because
of a worse judicial record than France.’
22
// NZ RUGBY WORLD // APRIL/MAY 2015
UNBEATABLE
Many who were at the
1995 tournament still
feel it was the best.
“By the time we got to the weekend we
honestly believed we had a good shout at
winning that game.”
They had plans to herd Lomu into
midfield towards the hard-nut defence
of their loose-forwards and believed
they could suffocate the All Blacks
brilliant backs.
As a nation of 42 million waited and
63,000 spectators sauntered through the
sunlight into the hubbub at Ellis Park for
the mid-afternoon kickoff, the
expectations and theories mounted about
the result.
Referee Ed Morrison was used to big
matches but even he was astounded by the
frenzied anticipation when he arrived at
the stadium. He returned to the safety of
the changing rooms until just before
kickoff and was oblivious to a commercial
jet’s low-level fly past with its ‘Go Bokke’
best wishes signs under its wings.
In what was by any measure the most
stressful period of his sports medicine
career, All Black doctor Mike Bowen had
done all he could to get the team back into
shape for the decider.
He was staggered at the way captain
Sean Fitzpatrick led his troops and
refused to acknowledge any troubles.
Mains took his heavy heart to his seat
in the midst of a terrifying response from
the Afrikaaners around him. As the final
lurched towards extra-time , his
admiration rose even more for the display
from his damaged troops as he wondered
if they could find a way to win.
All the strands of that final and the
month leading up to it are treasured
memories for those who soaked up that
tournament. The one country tournament
was a massive improvement on its
forerunner although World Rugby has
not always got
the hang of that
concept.
They’ve not
found a way to
give South Africa
a repeat
tournament either
in the last three
ballots. WR is keen to expand their
global reach and commercial activities
and introducing Japan as a new host in
2019 will be a powerful test of those
ingredients.
It may also make them cautious about
awarding successive hosting rights to
another new operator like USA before
they see how Japan performs in 2019.
Advantage South Africa? Not so sure
but it still provokes amazing memories.
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