What the 'Cry Boks' say about the modern South African male
In a sport filled with tough men, Duane Vermuelen stood out across a 19-year career. You don’t earn the nickname “Thor” by playing nice, and for nearly two decades, this 6 ft 4 in, 260 lbs hammer of a man pounded opponents on either side of the ball.
But in Chasing the Sun 2, the five-part docuseries chronicling the Springboks’ 2023 World Cup triumph, Vermeulen cries like a child who’s been told he can’t stay up past his bedtime.
Maybe that’s a little harsh. After all, Vermeulen was reflecting on the joy he felt having his wife and children with him on the pitch as he helped secure a second Webb Ellis Cup in four years. Having lost his own father when he was just eight, it was a poignant moment.
Still, this is Duane Vermuelen we’re talking about. A man nicknamed after the Norse god responsible for lightning and thunder. A seemingly bullet-proof rugby player from a typically conservative Afrikaans community that places great stock in traditionally masculine virtues. To see him spill his guts in such a raw manner was not only emotionally moving, but culturally confronting.
The thing is, he wasn’t alone.
In the first season of Chasing the Sun, which was made after the Springboks’ 2019 World Cup win, Rassie Erasmus is practically inconsolable when he recounts the story of Makazole Mapimpi. The alpha uncle of South African rugby is reduced to a blubbering mess when he tells the tale of why his star winger did not supply the team’s kit manager with photos of loved ones to be adorned on the back of his jersey. With most of his family either dead or absent from his life, Mapimpi had to make do with pictures of himself.
There were similar waterworks after South Africa’s dramatic one-point win over England in the 2023 semi-final. Bongi Mbonambi, a man who looks like Mike Tyson with the power to match the great heavyweight boxing champion, melted in the Boks’ dressing room post-match. One of the team’s leaders had absorbed so much pressure across that absorbing contest that the release through his tear ducts effectively diminished him to a prepubescent kid. Once he gathered himself he looked up at Erasmus like a son to his father and leaned in for a soft hug.
In one episode Kwagga Smith is crying. After almost every tight win Pieter-Steph du Toit cries. There are tears from Damian Willemse and Jacques Nienaber and Daan Human and Deon Fourie. If saltwater could help crops grow, this batch of Boks would ensure there’d never be food shortages in South Africa ever again.
None of this is meant to shame the Springboks. The opposite is true. This is meant to praise a group of South African men for challenging ingrained stereotypes around masculinity. What’s more, as a psychologist friend put it to me, they’ve given permission to other men who might have felt unsure on how to express the full range of their own feelings.
Across the multiple WhatsApp groups I’m a part of that mentioned Chasing the Sun, a common joke emerged. Though it was delivered differently, the broad message was that any South African watching should have a box of tissues close at hand.
This is not the South Africa I was raised in. At school, even in schools not renowned for their sporting prowess, any winter sport other than rugby was derided for being effeminate. Hockey, a sport that involves 22 players running around with sticks whacking a hard ball at great speed, was given the Afrikaans name ‘mofstof’, essentially, ‘gay stick’. This was a running gag from Cape Town to Pretoria.
Rugby was not subject to ridicule. Despite the fact that the game is – let’s be honest – dripping with homoerotic events (ever played No 8?), it is regarded as the most manly of all pastimes. These masculine celebrations are seen in clubhouses where gallons of beer are put away in jaw-dropping gulps. They’re there in the locker room banter that – again, let’s be honest – veers into the sort of chat that landed Donald Trump in trouble during his 2016 US presidential campaign.
It’s woven into every thread of a sport that still treats the women’s game like a sideshow, that is littered with homophobic slurs and after-dinner speeches from retired pros that basically boil down to how many times they shagged on tour.
It’s there again when so many of Erasmus’ team talks are diluted to the mantra of “fuck them up physically”. This is a violent game. There is not only the risk of broken bones but life-changing brain trauma. It’s why commentators and journalists describe those who participate at the highest level as warriors and soldiers. It’s why Mbonambi and other Springboks compare the line behind them on defence to their front door that needs protecting as if Ben Earl or Jordie Barrett were home intruders hell-bent on abusing their family.
In a country as violent and misogynistic as South Africa, a nation where one in five women in relationships have experienced physical violence by a partner, these messages can be jarring. Taken in isolation, it would be easy to dismiss the Springboks of Erasmus and Siya Kolisi as agents of a morally corrupt ideology.
But these messages are not shared in isolation. So many of the players, including Kolisi, have established foundations with the primary aim of tackling gender-based violence. They’re a team that has used their platform to provide an example for men of all cultures. Through their overt displays of love for each other, as well as the torrents of tears, they have offered an alternate view on what it means to be a South African man.
Watch Chasing the Sun on RugbyPass TV now
Led yet again by Siya Kolisi, the Springboks went on to repeat the incredible feat four years later, going back-to-back in France for their fourth Rugby World Cup title, resulting in the newly released Chasing the Sun 2. It will also be available on RugbyPass TV, from August 1, 2024.
Comments on RugbyPass
I reckon it may be Jordan at 10 and Nohamba at 9, both players have played together alot and both have been on the Radar for a long time. After Pollard got injured in 2022 with Elton sidelined on a path of self destruction Erasmus and Nienaber indicated that the other options in the country at the time were thin but that Jordan and Manie were the 2 they were looking at. In the end Frans steyn played flyhalf, Willemse slotted in there on the end of year with Libbok as back up. Jordan was right there in the thinking back then so expect him to take the Jersey either as the starter.
1 Go to commentsHaha did he also* say it in a sarcastic teacher sort of manor or was it the petulant English snob sort of wail?
44 Go to commentsWell said Mils. It is a big boost at last having Fergus Burke back at 10 for the Crusaders. Had a great season last year as the article says. Mils is also right about captain Codie Taylor’s performance in his return to the Crusaders last week. He was all class.
4 Go to commentsLet’s make them both Capt. I think we'd get the best of both of them and it would help alleviate some of the pressures of the role. They'd have to confer over on field decisions which should lead to “ learnings “ for both. They are our two best consistent performers.
16 Go to commentsOur best player by far..but not a good Captain..poor tactician cost the AB'S and Canes games by not taking the easy points and going for tries when the lineouts were a shambles..can he read a game? And his throat slitting gesture should disqualify him from the AB Captaincy..it is not the appropriate behaviour of an AB Captain.
16 Go to commentsForget what was said or how many players said it. TONY BROWN IS THE NEW ATTACK COACH. That’s the only story worth freaking out over. The springboks are going to grow their game an awful lot over the next cycle and it’s not just the 19 disgustingly arrogant Irish players who refused to shake Ebens hand and said “see you in the final if you can cheat your way past France” who will find that out first hand.
123 Go to commentsOn one hand I think it's a bit ridiculous that this gar into the season and with only 2 wins the Crusaders may make the finals. On the other hand if it was only top 4 or 5, then that last several weeks may be mainly dead rubbers. Nope, 8th place after round robin shouldn't be able to lift the trophy.
4 Go to commentsI do think the media in NZ treated him badly. Sam is a legend. He is humble, a great rugby mind and leader. What happened in the final could happen to anyone. The margins is so fine these days. I lay blame at the feet of the coaching staff and NZ rugby. The stats tell’s all. The AB’s was the worst disciplined side in the WC with more red and yellow cards than anyone else. Problem is NZ rugby is not training their players to play safer. And thats the danger a fast game brings. More yellow and red cards. But Sam Cane in my eye was and still is a great ambassador for the game, that just had a stroke of bad luck.
6 Go to commentsI hope Jim and co. Add this to their list of icebreaker questions they can ask all their guests going forward. So we can eventually hear what everyone thinks about this subject. “What do you think Ireland meant…”
123 Go to commentsHe’s a dominant personality. That might be both a good and bad thing in team dynamics. Certainly it ruined Smith’s first crack at 10 with Owen at 12. BTW, Bristol flatter to deceive. When things really matter, they tend to deliver less rather than more. Farrell would have been good for them
44 Go to commentsGot a lot of over the top abuse from Crusader fans, in particular, who thought every 7 they had was miles better. Now we will see if anyone is better? Laid his body on the line every game so finishing early makes sense. A lot of life left after rugby.
6 Go to commentsA poor decision to appoint Carley as not only is Pearce a better referee but also importantly speaks French.
2 Go to commentsHe is 100 % on the mark. Malicious arrogance with a lack of respect for the other teams mostly the south. they must learn from True rugby nations like the Boks and Kiwis
123 Go to commentsThis Outiniqua boy has played sublime rugby and deserves a spot in BI LIONS team. Well played son
4 Go to commentsI don’t like to see players miss big matches but this ban looks to be tailored to allow him to compete in the final. In principle a suspension for a very dangerous tackle in a semi should warrant missing the relevant final. Done now. One the flip side having both teams with very strong squads/teams available for the final will add to the occassion hopefully.
1 Go to commentsTalent to burn and a huge engine..hope he gets a shot at higher honours
2 Go to commentsIf anything like his dad he has a bright future, Soane was the best ball carrying props ive ever seen using a combination of pace power and footwork.
1 Go to commentsThose who saw Sharks vs Clermont and Ox N'Che vs Rabah Slimani should have a good idea of the best scrumagers… May be not the best props…
2 Go to commentsIt's been an unusual era of unpopular, highly competitive, domineering, fairly big fly halves in the home nations with Farrell, Sexton and Biggar. Russell is different in personality and player I think. I'd rank Sexton first of the three because he is just as good a game controller but also has a great passing game. And his competitiveness never seems to cause problems with refs.
44 Go to commentsThank goodness he wasn't born in Scotland, he'd have been a great candidate for the Scottish Barbarians. I wouldn't put it past them to push for a “where the player was conceived” rule 😂
2 Go to comments