30 years on, unforgettable memories of the Springboks’ opening match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup

Rub of the Green Column

Just a few months before I began my career as a rugby writer, I watched the opening game of the 1995 World Cup in the company of three Welshmen, who had come to South Africa to play rugby at my club, Amanzimtoti.

We were in a sports bar in Warner Beach, the KZN seaside village that former Wallaby Clyde Rathbone and Sharks owner Marco Masotti call home.

The venue was fizzing with atmosphere.

The Welsh guys, all of them young school teachers, were astonished.

All of that day, they had seen cars bedecked in the colours of the rainbow nation, drivers tooting at each other in festive fervour.

Everywhere was fans in green and gold; side mirrors of cars were coloured with the national flag.

I have remained in warm contact with those Welshmen to this day, such is the power of sport to forge friendships, and 30 years on from us watching the Springboks beat the Wallabies in that opening game, I asked them for their memories of that day.

John Dodds, speaking from Bridgend, told me he had been overwhelmed.

“We were watching on that big screen, and just before kick-off, the crowd was chanting ‘Nelson! Nelson!’

“And I turned to my mates and said: ‘We are very lucky to be in this country at this time. There is something special happening here. We are watching history’.”

The first half of the match was incredibly close, and it was Pieter Hendriks’ try just before halftime that broke the tension.

The eruption of euphoria across the country was unbridled.

“It was huge to see the passion for the game in South Africa as the fans in that pub went crazy,” says Jason Lewis, also from Bridgend.

“We love our rugby in Wales, but to see how much that game meant to people gave me goose bumps. I remember that clearly.

“You had the feeling that game was more than just about rugby.”

There was sheer bedlam as Hendriks rounded David Campese and crossed the line, fist pumped in elation.

The Springboks had been given no price of beating the reigning champions, and most critics did not think the host nation would make it past the quarter-finals.

But that moment – that had the world’s greatest player (at that time) floundering on the Newlands turf while Hendriks raced home for the score – released the pressure, and the nation gave birth to belief.

The eruption of joy and relief across the land was staggering.

“The celebrations after the game and then onwards over the tournament were incredibly special. We had more than our fair our share of Springbok shooters! (green peppermint liqueur topped with Amarula Cream),” Geraint Kathrens told me from Abercynon.

“It was a privilege to be in South Africa at that time. The atmosphere was amazing, and there was so much positivity in South Africa.

“As outsiders, all we had known of South Africa were news clips about apartheid, and a lot of our friends said we were mad to go to South Africa to play rugby, and that we would end up trapped in a civil war,” Kathrens recalls.

“But we were determined to come, and we found that there were a lot of false claims about the people of South Africa.

“We only experienced people with an open mind to improving the situation in the country.”

That pressure-cooker release for the Boks and their growing army of fans across all cultures was also because the team were now on coach Kitch Christie’s fabled “high road” to the final, which meant avoiding the highly favoured teams from New Zealand and England in the initial playoffs.

The Boks would now almost certainly finish top of Group A, and were on course for “winnable” quarter-finals and semi-finals against Western Samoa, Wales, Italy, Argentina, Ireland and France.

Of those countries, at that time, only formidable France were a threat to the Boks on that side of the draw.

But, and I remember this vividly, captain Francois Pienaar afforded himself only a brief celebration at the final whistle before running swiftly from the field with a blank stare.

He understood that beating the Aussies in round one was only the beginning...

Match Report

Pool A: 20 May 1995: South Africa 27 Australia 18 (Newlands, Cape Town)

On a beautiful, sunny Cape afternoon, the World Cup was kicked off by Aussie flyhalf Michael Lynagh, and the perfect fielding of the kick by Mark Andrews and his fellow forwards began a match where the South Africans made few errors.

Penalties were soon exchanged by Lynagh and his counterpart, Joel Stransky, before the latter nudged his team 9-6 in front on the half-hour mark, only for Lynagh to score the first tryof the World Cup when he ghosted through the defence on the back of momentum created by powerful No 8 Willie Ofahengaue.

Australia led 13-9 after 35 minutes and the Newlands crowd went silent.

But not for long!

A series of Springbok phases eventually created space out wide and winger Pieter Hendriks famously rounded David Campese for a try that ignited the stadium and the country.

The home team led 14-13 at the interval and then Stransky added a penalty and a drop goal to push his team into a comfortable 20-13 lead.

Stransky landed the killer blow when, with 17 minutes remaining, he cashed in on forward momentum near the Aussie line to slip through the defence.

The Wallabies never gave up and veteran hooker Phil Kearns crashed over towards the end, but it was a consolation try only...

Points-Scorers

South Africa 27 – Tries: Pieter Hendriks, Joel Stransky. Conversion: Joel Stransky (1). Penalties: Stransky (4). Drop goal: Stransky (1).

Australia 18 – Tries: Michael Lynagh, Phil Kearns. Conversion: Lynagh (1). Penalties: Lynagh (2).