Boks stirring up national fervour

It was another great day to be a South African on Saturday. Indeed, this was probably the finest moment for rugby in this country since Francois Pienaar held the Webb Ellis trophy aloft at Ellis Park in 1995.

It is true that the Springboks have won the Tri-Nations before. It could also be argued that they were more emphatic last time. In 1998 they won all their matches, this time they won just half of them.

But it was the way the Boks played, the enthusiasm and zest for the game displayed by the young team, and the way they managed to galvanise support across race and language barriers that marked the achievement of the past few weeks as particularly special.

I was phoned the other day by a Cape based freelance journalist who told me that there is unprecedented support for the Boks in the communities. People who have supported the All Blacks for years and years are suddenly getting behind the Boks, and are proud to do so.

Players such as Joe van Niekerk, Jean de Villiers, Eddie Andrews and Bolla Conradie have become as big in these communities as Bryan Williams, Sid Going and other former All Blacks were in a previous era.

This is great news for the Boks, and it is great news for South African rugby. That South Africans are also getting in behind the new nation was evidenced at the singing of the national anthems at the ABSA Stadium test.

I have covered Springbok test matches around the world for the past 12 years, but never have I heard the anthem sung with the gusto that we saw on Saturday. And when I refer to the anthem, for once we refer to the whole anthem, for the Durban fans certainly gave the Nkosi Sikele part a full go.

It is indeed a haunting and very beautiful hymn when everyone sings it together, and hopefully white South Africans elsewhere will also start to embrace it.

I detected a change in the mood of the traditional rugby supporter in the buildup to this test. To my mind, much of the enmity to Clyde Rathbone was just plain childish, and I fancy the former Amanzimtoti youngster is going to recover from his poor game inn Durban and go on to become one of the game’s great players.

But it was interesting to hear people who would normally do otherwise suddenly start to protest against the Rathbone perception that crime is a problem in this country. For years I have been irritated by the general negativity towards the new South Africa, but suddenly everyone seems so positive.

Or at least that appears to be the case if you listen to what people are saying about Rathbone: “How can he say crime is a problem? Is there no crime in Australia?”. Or: “How can he not feel safe in Toti?”.You know what I mean when I suggest these comments are completely out of kilter with what the same people may have been saying at dinner parties two months ago.

Rathbone, or so I am told by people close to him, was quoted completely out of context with regards to the report that he does not remember the words of our anthem. He claims he said the exact opposite, something to the effect that “How can you forget those words?”

But while I feel a dirty has been done on Rathbone, at least a positive has come out of it if it means suddenly white South Africans are going to fall all over themselves to prove they know the words to Nkosi.

Not that it was the Rathbone issue that suddenly got South Africans feeling so proudly South African these past few weeks. Much of it has to do with winning – everyone loves a winning team.

Jake White, as he did when he coached the under-21 team, also proved that making representivity important, which it undeniably is, does not mean you suspend hopes of winning. He deserves massive credit for his ability to think outside the box in this regard.

Talking of thinking outside the box, White must also be lauded for the way he backs his own ideas. None of us thought Joe van Niekerk was ready to start a test at Ellis Park, yet he was nearly the man of the match. Ditto the selection of Jean de Villiers on the wing.

The players too have conducted themselves in a manner which is light years different from what we saw post-Staaldraad and during last year’s miserable World Cup campaign.

Their ability to make it look as though they are really enjoying themselves is one of the reasons they have become so loved by the supporters and why new supporters are flooding to the game.

The celebrations following the final whistle in Durban were something to behold, and made me almost as emotional as the singing of the anthem. This is clearly a team with great team spirit in which every player plays for the man next to him. It was all so special. Long may it last.