The triumphant Springboks are on the cover of the latest SA Rugby magazine, which is on sale now! Don’t miss out on our 140-page celebration issue.
The Boks are back where they belong, world champions again! And the No 1 side in the World Rugby rankings, to boot.
The showpiece event in Japan was a sensational spectacle on and off the field, and it culminated with the Springboks producing one of the all-time great performances to hammer England in the final.
Our chief writer, Jon Cardinelli, was on the ground in Japan covering the Boks throughout the tournament and, as he documents in a fascinating piece, their success was based on a close-knit team spirit, a culture of honesty and an unerring belief in their abilities to rise to the top of world rugby.
As Rassie Erasmus explained when he took over the reins at the Boks, he had 618 days to prepare for the World Cup, and so began a meticulous journey to lay the foundations for the side to return to its former glory. That goal was achieved in some style as the result of an immense team effort.
In this issue, we offer our player ratings for the World Cup squad, while providing a report card showing how the Boks passed with flying colours.
In our third successive bumper edition, SA Rugby magazine recaps all the standout moments from a highly entertaining tournament in cosmopolitan Japan. Also keep an eye out for our picture pages, where we picked a selection of the best images from the Springboks’ jubilant journey.
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In addition, we document Japan’s fairtyale campaign at their home tournament, along with England’s World Cup run, with Eddie Jones once again showing that he is one of the best coaches in the game.
Also in our spotlight is the role played by centre Damian de Allende, who defied critics with a series of influential performances.
The 27-year-old is one of the players who could still be involved in the next four-year cycle between World Cups, and as Clinton van der Berg points out in a must-read feature, there is enough talent to suggest the future looks bright for the Boks.
