Today in History: The Springboks defeated France in 1995 Rugby World Cup semifinal
The Springboks managed to edge out Le Bleus by 19–15 in their semifinal clash at the 1995 Rugby World Cup™.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup™ semifinal between South Africa and France was as intense as it was wet, and was even started an hour late due to the conditions.
The match was delayed by an hour due to heavy rain and violent storms, usual weather in Durban as sports fans have come to learn.
South Africa eventually scraped home 19–15 after withstanding a strong French effort towards the end of the game.
Had the match not been played, the hosts would have dropped out of their own tournament due to their inferior disciplinary record in the competition.
The Springboks’ try came from Ruben Kruger and it proved to be the difference between the two sides.
“[Derek] Bevan (the referee) was apparently mostly concerned about the dangers posed if a scrum should collapse in a large pool of water. As a gaggle of officials stood in the middle of the pitch, fingers crossed behind their backs and water squelching over their shoes, they hit upon the high-tech way to get the match under way. No expense was spared by the organisers of a tournament expected to return a profit of £20 million. They gave the signal and five old dears with scarves around their heads ambled on to the pitch with brooms and began gently sweeping the way to the touchline. It was rich entertainment on a miserably sodden day,” wrote Mick Cleary in the Guardian at the time.
In an extract from his book, The Springboks and the Holy Grail, which was published in 2011, Dan Retief relives the 1995 Rugby World Cup semifinal between South Africa and France:
“The Boks started off well, forcing a pushover try by Ruben Kruger to lead 10–0 after 24 minutes. But by half-time it was 10–6. Then 13–6, then 13–9, then 16–9, then 16–12, then 19–12, then 19–15 as [Joel] Stransky and Thierry Lacroix (who would guide Natal to a Currie Cup victory in the same stadium later that year) gave an exceptional display of goal-kicking while often having to move their kicking tees to spots where they did not float and where their studs could get some grip in the water-logged turf.
“And so the Springboks were leading 19–15 with four minutes to play. The French were running rampant and the Boks were making mistakes. Stransky’s kick-off didn’t go 10m, James Small knocked on and Lacroix sent a high kick on to Joubert. The fullback, seemingly oblivious of his broken hand, had taken everything thrown at him, sometimes with the help of Small, but this time he dropped the ball. Big Abdel Benazzi came steaming in, picked up the ball and hurled himself at the line. A try would have made it 19–20, and regardless of the conversion, there would simply not have been time for the Boks to get back in front with just over a minute left to play. It seemed impossible that Benazzi would be stopped – but he was, short by just centimetres.
“Small threw himself head-on into the bigger and heavier Frenchman, they connected, right shoulder to right shoulder, and the big loose forward’s outstretched hand, straining to deposit the ball over the line, came down just short. To this day, Benazzi and his teammates contend that it was a try, but while making the updated Springbok Saga series for SuperSport, I was able to study the footage in super slo-mo, time and again, and I have no doubt that Benazzi did not score. Amazingly, the line was visible; amazingly, Bevan saw it too and did not award the score.”
You can relive some of the highlights from the match here:
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