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Suzie the waitress: Former All Black opens up on World Cup final controversy
Almost 30 years on from one of the most controversial weeks in Rugby World Cup history, former All Blacks playmaker Andrew Mehrtens has opened up on the infamous ‘Suzie the waitress’ incident.
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To this day, New Zealand rugby fans swear by the allegations that a mysterious waitress played a part in the All Blacks’ defeat in the 1995 decider at Ellis Park.
Ed Griffiths, who was the CEO of South Africa Rugby during that tournament, has since told RugbyPass that it’s “certainly true” that up to six All Blacks had upset stomachs. But Griffiths, along with the Boks and their supporters, adamantly deny foul play.
It’s a mystery that may never be solved.
The Springboks went on to win the decider 15-12 in extra-time. Flyhalf Joel Stransky scored all of South Africa’s 15 points, including a decisive drop goal to secure World Cup glory.
Ahead of the 2023 final between New Zealand and South Africa, former All Black Andrew Mehrtens has shed light on what happened three decades ago in Johannesburg.
“It comes up and I’m careful to make two points,” Mehrtens told BBC’s Rugby Union Daily podcast.
“I’m not going to deny that something happened on the Thursday night. Within a short space of time, we have a lot of guys fall pretty violently ill overnight.
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“I never really got tested. I was the first one to get a little bit sick so I got isolated. I didn’t realise it had ripped through a lot of the team.
“I got given a Petri dish and asked to give a sample but I couldn’t face the thought of doing that anything during the night.
“So the first thing I’ll say is something sort of happened but we don’t know what By the time we got to the game on the Saturday, we felt good – we were a really fit team.
“We were trying to just basically disregard it and concentrate on the job.
“And in the end, the determining factor for us in not winning that final was that South Africa tackled us where other teams hadn’t.
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“I don’t want it to be in the context of this is why we lost at all.
“It’s certainly not and we had to take our hat off to the South Africans.”
The All Blacks and Springboks are on the cusp of rugby immortalisation. No team has ever won the sport’s ultimate prize four times, but that is certain to change on Saturday night at Stade de France.
New Zealand were written off by many coming into this World Cup, with the All Blacks recording a record 35-7 loss to South Africa just two weeks before the event
But two months is a long time in Test rugby, and so is 28 years. As the two great rivals prepare to meet in a World Cup decider for just the second time, All Blacks coach Ian Foster reflected on what’s motivating his team.
“Part of the challenge is to discover that yourself. We get it from the history and the legacy of the jersey, which is massive for us. The people who have walked the journey we have walked are pretty special,” Foster said.
“The All Blacks have always had a special place in New Zealanders’ hearts. The amount of support we have got from our country has been quite overwhelming. We are generally a conservative bunch, we are generally cynical at times. We show our love and support while criticising yet that has swung around a little bit. Suddenly there is a lot of excitement from our country.
“We get it from the people we represent, our families and our past. Then when we shut the door and get in a circle it’s also that group of people who are massively motivated to meet the standards we have set ourselves.”
Comments on RugbyPass
A great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
3 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
3 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
3 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
228 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
87 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
228 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
228 Go to comments