South Africa’s 1995 World Cup-winning team have invited Londoners to join them on a two-mile jog before Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in a bid to replicate their success from 20 years ago.
The Springboks face the All Blacks at Twickenham in a repeat of the final at Ellis Park, with New Zealand once again heavy favourites to book their place in next week’s final. But in an attempt to recreate the feelgood factor which surrounded the famous victory, the 1995 captain Francois Pienaar and the rest of his team-mates will take to the streets of central London hours before kick off.
“On the morning of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final, they famously ran in Sandton. Twenty years later, the world champion Springboks are running again ... through the streets of London,” read a statement from South African Rugby.
Talk about a jog down memory lane - or is it back to the future? #RWC @WorldRugby @SARugbyLegends @bokmuseum pic.twitter.com/928W1AiF3M
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) October 22, 2015
“All are welcome to join the 1995 Springboks squad and jog for two miles from Trafalgar Square and back. Meet outside the National Gallery at 07h30 on Saturday 24 October, 2015.”
After upsetting the odds against Jonah Lomu and co thanks to Joel Stransky’s drop kick in extra time, Pienaar was handed the trophy by Nelson Mandela less than a year after he had been elected as South Africa’s first black president. The story featured in John Carlin’s book Playing the Enemy, which was later transformed into the feature film Invictus starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.
