Champions Of The World!

The glorious Bok victory in the Rugby World Cup has become a symbol of unity and hope for embattled South Africans.

- Carla Coetzee

YOU know the expression “It’s just a game”? Well, anyone who’s ever uttered those words will surely have eaten them along with the leftover biltong after one of the most spectacular sporting feats in recent memory.

Because if ever a match was more than just a game, it’s the one that galvanised and unified a nation at Yokohama Stadium in Japan on 2 November.

The Springboks had so much more to play for than Rugby World Cup glory: in their hands rested the dreams of a country beset by challenges and hardship. We needed something to show us that, if we work together, we can be winners.

And when Siya Kolisi lifted the Webb Ellis trophy, surrounded by his roaring teammates as fireworks exploded above him, the jubilation reverberated across South Africa.

The Boks may have gone into the final as the underdogs, but victory would mean so much more to them than to the Roses, England’s formidable team.

As The Guardian’s rugby writer Andy Bull put it, “it is not necessarily the sharpest, fittest, fastest or strongest team that wins, but the one who wants it most.

“Listening to South Africa’s captain and coach talk about what this victory meant in the minutes after they won it, you begin to understand exactly what England were up against.

“And the way the Springboks were thinking about it, England had lost the match before it even began.”

Coach Rassie Erasmus’ words spoke straight to the heart of it. “Rugby should be something that creates hope. But you can’t create hope just by talking about it; hope is not something you say in a beautiful tweet.

“Hope is when you play well. Hope is when people watch the game on a Saturday and they have a nice braai and they feel good about themselves. And no matter your political differences, or your belief differences, for those 80 minutes, you all agree.