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Where are they now? The South Africa team 25 years after their 1995 World Cup triumph

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Ross Kinnaird/PA Images via Getty Images)

June 24 25 years ago went down in World Cup history as the day South Africa partied like never before. The self-styled Rainbow Nation won its first Rugby World Cup and a country that had been shattered and divided for far too long by apartheid was celebrating as one after a drop goal from Joel Stransky made all the difference in extra-time in the final versus New Zealand.

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South Africa’s skipper Francois Pienaar wasn’t supposed to be lifting the trophy at World Cup 1995. The Springboks’ isolation on the international stage had only ended two years earlier and it was felt that they would have too much to do to bridge the gap following their return. 

However, a campaign that began with a win over defending champions Australia and continued with further victories over Romania, Canada, Samoa and France boiled down to one edge-of-seat afternoon in Johannesburg where a try-less final ended deadlocked at 9-all after 80 minutes. 

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1995 World Cup-winning South Africa out-half Joel Stransky guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

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1995 World Cup-winning South Africa out-half Joel Stransky guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

South African boss Kitch Christie – who sadly passed away with leukaemia in 1998 – had it drilled into his charges that they would be the fitter team and so it proved, the cup eventually grasped by the host country thanks to the boot of Stransky in a showpiece that tipped their way 15-12 after 100 minutes of battle.

Cue a celebratory explosion of joy and that iconic image of a beaming Nelson Mandela handing the trophy over to a thrilled Pienaar. 

The sense of wonder may have been dulled some years later by what happened between SA Rugby and the government, a legacy touched on in the brilliant bird’s eye recall of the finals by Edward Griffiths, the then CEO of the sport in the country, in a riveting recent RugbyPass interview. 

However, nothing can diminish the iconic moment in time that was South Africa defeating New Zealand in a compelling final that is now 25 years old. 

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Here, RugbyPass takes a step back in time to discover what became of that South Africa team, the last Springboks XV of the old amateur era as the sport soon turned professional within months. 

15. Andre Joubert 

The final was nearly the halfway house in the silky full-back’s Test career, his 16th appearance in a 34-cap career that ended two years later versus Australia in Pretoria. He went on to play for the Sharks in the newly formed Super 12, continuing through to 1999 when he wrapped up his rugby with a Currie Cup final appearance for Natal. 

Having worked in the banking industry for the four years in the lead-up to the World Cup, the now 56-year-old Joubert soon started his own business, Kwazulu Minolta, which is now called 3C Technology. 

14. James Small

The winger had the unenviable job in the final of curbing the influence of Jonah Lomu, who had destroyed England in the previous weekend’s semi-final. He more than held his own in what was the 23rd appearance in his 47-cap career which ended at Murrayfield in December 1997. 

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On-pitch verbal abuse gained Small his bad boy reputation (he was sent off for dissent in 1993) and in keeping with his uppity character, he went on to play for a variety of South African clubs in the professional era, calling it quits in 1999 through injury. A ‘model’, he was involved in restaurants, other businesses and coaching before passing away with a heart attack in July 2019 at the age of 50.

13. Japie Mulder

Winning the World Cup in just his ninth appearance for the Springboks illustrated how vital a cog Mulder quickly became for a country he represented on 34 occasions, his last cap coming in 2001 against the Italians in Port Elizabeth. By then a Cats centre, he went on to play a season in the English Premiership with Leeds having signed a dual code contract, but injury meant he never got to play league for the Rhinos.  

Post-rugby he pleaded guilty to an attempted 2007 rape and paid a fine, and he and his family were then victims of a 2009 car hijacking. The now 50-year-old has worked for Dark Fibre Africa, the telecommunications infrastructure company, and Samsung. 

12. Hennie le Roux

His languages proficiency meant he was a big help in encouraging the Springboks to be word perfect when signing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, which helped get the black community fully behind the team at the finals. The decider was the 17th appearance in his 27-cap career which ended at Cardiff in December 1996 and his club career ended at the Cats in 2000. 

Now 52, he is credited with the formation of the South African rugby players union, is the owner of Crown River Safari near Grahamstown, and has numerous other business interests, the latest being Unite SA which he co-founded last September with the aim of promoting “peace, tolerance, respect, equality, prosperity, truth, accountability and to build a civil and just society for all”. 

11. Chester Williams

The poster boy of the 1995 Springboks as their only black player, he very nearly missed the tournament through injury and needed suspensions elsewhere to get him back into the squad where he scored four tries in the quarter-final before helping to lift the trophy.   

The final was the 14th appearance in his 27-cap career which lasted until the last run in Cardiff in 2000. Ended his club career at the Cats and then embarked on a coaching career which took him as far afield as Romania. Was lastly boss at the University of Cape Town and executive director at Forward Africa Petroleum before his heart attack death in September 2019 at the age of 49.

10. Joel Stransky

The pivot who kicked the all-important ‘droppie’ recently told RugbyPass that the decision to go for posts went against the call that had initially been made at the scrum by skipper Pienaar.  

D-Day versus the All Blacks was the tenth appearance in his 22-cap career that ended versus New Zealand 14 months later. The now 52-year-old spent a few seasons at Leicester in the professional era before returning home where he is director at Pivotal, the technology solutions company he co-founded in 2012 following a stint as Hertz SA CEO.  

9. Joost van der Westhuizen

The third player in the cup-winning backline tragically no longer with us, it was his pass that allowed Stransky the time to shoot for glory in a decider that was just the 13th appearance in his lengthy 89-cap career which ended with the 2003 quarter-final loss to New Zealand in Melbourne.   

A Bulls player through and through, he was another whose private life became controversially public after he retired and he used his 2009 autobiography to apologise for his misdeeds. A SuperSport TV pundit, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2011, an illness he fought until he died at the age of 45 in 2017. 

1. Os du Randt

The powerful scrummager had the rare distinction of still being involved twelve years later when South Africa won their second World Cup, that victory in Paris bringing the curtain down on a record-setting 80-cap career that would have had more appearances but for missing many years through injury (he was uncapped from November 1999 through to June 2004).  

The 1995 final was just his ninth appearance and he played on in South Africa when the game officially turned pro, featuring for numerous Super Rugby franchises. The now 47-year-old farmer went on to scrum coach for the Cheetahs and the Springboks. Was inducted into World Rugby’s hall of fame prior to the 2019 World Cup. 

Springboks 20th anniversary reunion
How the Springboks 1995 team lined up at their 20th-anniversary reunion in 2015 (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images)

2. Chris Rossouw 

The final was just the fifth appearance in his nine-cap career, the red card suspension for James Dalton opening the door for his selection. Was cast back into anonymity after the finals and it wasn’t until 1999 that he earned his last four caps. The 54-year-old, who has overcome cancer, played for the Lions and the Sharks and now works in the family business, the Rossgro farm company.

3. Balie Swart

The tighthead made just two more appearances for the Springboks following the final, the end arriving for his 16-cap career in August 1996 (in Bloemfontein versus Australia). Was involved in one of the most bizarre club send-offs, getting his marching orders from Andre Watson after showing the referee the red card. 

The now 56-year-old became a coach after retiring, even spending some time at the Highlanders in New Zealand and working at the 2007 World Cup with the Springboks before moving into referee coaching, initially at SA Rugby and then with SANZAAR. 

4. Kobus Wiese

The World Cup decider was his seventh appearance in an 18-cap Test career that ended in Cardiff in December 1996. The now 56-year-old, who played professionally for the Lions and had stints in Europe, is the owner of Wiesenhof Coffees and a rugby commentator for SuperSport.

5. Hannes Strydom

The World Cup final was the eleventh appearance in his 21-cap career which ended against Australia in Pretoria in August 1997. A qualified pharmacist who played professionally for a number of SA franchises, he owns a pharmacy chain, Pharma Valu, in Pretoria. Now 54, he survived an attempted carjacking and assault in 2014. 

6. Francois Pienaar (capt)

The skipper had his role reprised by Matt Damon in the Hollywood movie Invictus about the finals. Made just eight more appearances in his 29-cap career after the RWC, finishing up against New Zealand in Cape Town in 1996 and moving to Saracens in England where he became CEO after he retired from playing. 

Now 53, he worked for FNB after returning to South Africa before founding Advent Sport and Media Entertainment in 2009. Was also the founding chairman of the Make A Difference leadership foundation.  

7. Ruben Kruger

The final was the flanker’s tenth appearance in his 36-cap career which ended at the 1999 World Cup in Cardiff. Voted player of the year in 1995, he went on to play for the Bulls in Super 12. 

Diagnosed with a tumour in 2000, the initial operation was thought to be a success for the Pretoria-based camera salesman. However, he took ill on a family holiday in 2009 and passed away the following year at the age of just 39. 

8. Mark Andrews

The Jo’burg showpiece was just the second occasion in his then 13-cap career that he packed down at No8, a position he quipped he hadn’t played since he was a 13-year-old until chosen there for the semi-finals. Reverted to lock thereafter, going on to win 77 caps and bringing the curtain down in 2001 at Twickenham. 

His club career kept going until 2004, finishing with Newcastle in England. Went into the sports goods business after returning to South Africa and the now 48-year-old is currently listed as the independent business owner of Innov8 Solar since last October after a long involvement with M5 Sports Group. 

USED SUBS

17. Brendan Venter, 19. Rudolf Straeuli, 20. Garry Pagel 

UNUSED SUBS

16. Gavin Johnson, 18. Johan Roux, 21. Naka Drotske

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Jon 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

30 Go to comments
A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 11 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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