Justice was seen to be done

It was a day for lumps in the throat, for tears in the eye, for massive stirrings of patriotism and for this journalist to abandon all pretences at neutrality on an emotional, memorable day.

As I wake early on this post-World Cup Sunday in the Bastille apartment that has been home for most of the last seven absorbing weeks, a South African flag flutters outside the window as the church bells ring out over Paris.

And it will stay there until next week, when the French journalist who owns this flat, currently in South Africa to write about the Springbok celebrations when they return home, finally takes up occupancy again.

This is a time when we can all be proud to be South African, not just because the Springboks won, but because of the way the Boks carried themselves thoughout this tournament. The last lot to go to represent our country in a World Cup were boorish to the extreme, but on and off the field, John Smit’s team carried themselves in exemplary fashion throughout the tournament.

That TMO try will doubtless be debated in the London newspapers for weeks and maybe even months to come. To me, watching it on the big screen, it seemed to be the right decision. But to say that it would have changed the match had it been awarded is guess-work, for there were still 39 minutes to run, and who is to say that the Springboks, had they fallen behind, would not have been galvanised into action had they fallen behind at that point?

It is not patriotism that says that this was the right result. Had England beaten South Africa in the final they would have been worthy champions just because it would have meant they had beaten Australia, France and the Springboks in successive weeks.

But they didn’t manage it, and there is no denying that the team that lifted the trophy was the most consistent one in the tournament, as shown by the fact they end unbeaten after seven matches. Not only that, but ultimately it was lowly Tonga, who profited from two late tries when the game was really over in the pool phases, who came closest to knocking over the new champions.

For the rest, there was always a margin of more than a converted try separating the Boks from their opponents, and my memories of this World Cup will be strange ones in that I got the sense that the Boks were seldom pressed into really having to engage top gear. Even in the final, when they were running down the clock in the second half, you felt they might just be able to make a step up and switch to a different game if they really had to.

They didn’t need to, and maybe it was fitting that they ended the tournament by beating England at their own game. It was boring rugby, but England could never complain about it, for the dictum that “defence is what wins you World Cups” is what got them through their semifinal against France. Given the nature of the game, and the fact that England, in their last three matches have scored only 32 points and one try over 240 minutes, the final winning margin of nine points was a significant one.

It was a match where justice was seen to be done not just because the Springboks, based on their form and consistency throughout the tournament, deserved to be champions. It also righted a twist of fate earlier this year that would have been too cruel for words had it been allowed to end there.

The reference is to the Super 14 final, where Springbok skipper John Smit, captaining the Sharks, was denied his chance to lift the trophy by a last gasp Bryan Habana try that came after the hooter had sounded, amidst a slew of errors from referee Steve Walsh, and with Smit off the field after being replaced.

The precociously talented Frans Steyn was at the heart of all of this, rushing and missing the goalkick that would have assured the Sharks of victory before then being responsible for the idiotic field kick which gifted the Bulls the possession they needed to score their try.

Had Smit been denied again, in what might well have been his last major involvement with South African rugby, it would have been unjust. Had Steyn been part of a losing effort in the final, he would have looked back on a year of failure. He has entertained so much with his talent this year that it is only right that he doesn’t have to do that.

And it is right too that Victor Matfield, man of the match in the final and perhaps South African rugby’s most valuable player, was able to have his moment of glory early in the year too. In the end it was a season for winners, and with Habana set to seal the year by becoming the 2007 IRB Player of the Year, all the good men shared the glory.

South African rugby has brimmed with talented people as it does now. The Springboks are worthy world champions and four years of hard work has paid off. Let’s all enjoy the moment. There are parts of Paris that belong to South Africa today.