Rugby World Cup 2019: Pollard delight at ‘truly historic’ South Africa triumph
Handre Pollard hopes the exploits of South Africa’s Rugby World Cup stars can spread a message of hope and unity in their homeland.
Fly-half Pollard, man of the match in the semi-final win against Wales, was again in supreme form from the kicking tee – booting 22 points in a resounding 32-12 final win over England in Yokohama.
Siya Kolisi, as South Africa’s first black captain, lifted the trophy in a moment of deep symbolic significant for a nation that poignantly emerged from the ravages of apartheid with their first World Cup win in 1995.
Francois Pienaar was the toast of the nation on that occasion, but Pollard explained how Kolisi – who hails from the Zwide township just north of Port Elizabeth – leading a third triumphant World Cup campaign was a moment of huge significance.
“You can’t actually put it into words and only South Africans will really understand what it means to us as a country going forward,” he told ITV.
“It’s a truly historic day for us. Yes, we won the Rugby World Cup, which is great for us as players and the management. We’ll remember that for ever.
“But the magnitude of what happened today for our country it truly something special.
“[I hope it represents] just unity. It’s a diverse group, lots of different cultures. We’ve got five languages in our side.
“We got together and had one vision. This is what you can do if you all work together and stand together.
“Hopefully we can take this message home, where it’s not always going great, but hopefully we can give the people of South Africa hope.”
World Cup trophy number 3 in the bag
Monumental effort
Power and dominance by the pack
Deadly goal kicking by Handre Pollard
Tries by the speedsters#StrongerTogether #RWC2019 #ENGvRSA #RWCFinal #WebbEllisCup #RWCYokohama pic.twitter.com/M5VBudXaFP— Springboks (@Springboks) November 2, 2019
Tries in the final 15 minutes from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe added deserved gloss to a win underpinned by South Africa’s formidable forward power.
“We believe in the way we play. We’ve played that same style of play for two years now,” Pollard added.
“We execute it well and when our forwards pitch up physically the way they did tonight… it was unbelievable. It was a massive effort from the boys.”
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