APA-Johannesburg (South Africa) South Africa’s 2023 Rugby World Cup champions kicked off their four-day nationwide tour of the country’s major cities on Thursday, with fans adorning the Springboks colours and loudly cheering them in the streets from Pretoria to Soweto in Johannesburg.
Speaking after meeting the team in Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the Springboks had shown “the power of transformation” in society.
“The Springboks are a potent symbol of just how far we have come as a people. That is why you have been so warmly embraced by South Africans of all races as their own,” Ramaphosa told the happy squad led by Siya Kolisi.
He reflected on when former Boks captain Francois Pienaar and late president Nelson Mandela lifted the Webb Ellis Cup at Ellis Park Stadium on 24 June 1995.
“Our democracy was just over one-year old. South Africa had just been readmitted to World Rugby three years earlier. There was only one black player on the team — the legendary Chester Williams,” he said.
He added: “It was a monumental, historic and deeply symbolic occasion. And this win is also monumental.”
The Springboks won the 2023 Rugby World Cup after beating New Zealand 12-11 during the finals in Paris, France, on October 28.
This was the fourth victory by the Springboks for the championship – the first country to do so – and all four championships have taken place during South Africa’s democratic years that began in 1994.
NM/jn/APA