With Benito Vergotine on Smile FM & Dylan Jack last night, talking about the 2023 Rugby World Cup final won by the Springboks

Delighted to have been a guest on The Honest Truth with Benito Vergotine on Smile FM with Dylan Jack last night, talking about the 2023 Rugby World Cup final won by the Springboks.

Dylan is a superb rugby writer and we reviewed the final on Saturday with Benito won by the Springboks.

The two greatest rivals have history in this tournament.

Enjoy the listen.

Just one point in it. And well done Boks.

This is a great read by my mate Mike Greenaway who has a stunning coffee table book out “The Fireside Springbok “ … We credit iol

We can talk all day and night for a week about the Springboks’ phenomenal Rugby World Cup defeat of the All Blacks in Paris but Mike Greenaway highlights five salient topics to come out of the 12-11 result.

Dead-eye Dick

When Handre Pollard could not make the initial World Cup selection because of a calf injury, the speculation was that he would nevertheless end up in France playing for the Boks. And when Malcolm Marx suffered a calamitous knee injury, Pollard was hastily called across the English Channel. The result? Pollard did not miss a kick in the tournament — 4/4 against Tonga, 2/2 against France, 3/3 against England, and four/4 in the final.

The Malmesbury Missile

The little town in the Western Cape must have been rocking on Saturday night as one of their finest, Pieter-Steph du Toit, turned in an astonishing performance. He obliterated anything in black on 28 occasions in an exhibition of defence that will have had many an All Black reaching for the Deep Heat on Sunday morning.

House of Cards

The Stade de France saw a host of players marching to the sin bin, all for fair reason, but just what impact did it have on the game? The Kiwis lost Shannon Frizell for ten minutes and then Sam Cane ten minutes before halftime after his shoulder collided with the face of Jesse Kriel — he should take up boxing with that steel jaw — but the loss of their captain galvanized the All Blacks to play at a higher level. Siya Kolisi also received his marching orders, and towards the end of the game, Cheslin Kolbe slapped down a pass. He could not bear to watch the rest of the game, pulled his jersey over his head, and prayed. His prayers were answered.

Gamble pays off

When the 7-1 split was announced, it meant that Rassie Erasmus had gone to the casino. But instead of choosing red or black he put South Africa’s money on green. The big risk was that a back would get injured early in the game —the biggest worry was that Faf de Klerk or Handre Pollard would go down early — but it turned out to be forward that was crocked a few minutes into the game. Bongi Mbonambi limped off and Deon Fourie was immense in the loose but poor in the lineouts. This was always the issue with calling up a flyhalf (Pollard) for injured Malcolm Marx, although the other side of the coin is that Pollard kicked the Boks to victory.