History beckons in World Cup
It was May 1995, and if you landed at any airport in South Africa, it was to be greeted by the slightly bowed head – as if caught in serious pre-game reflection – of one Chester Williams, Springbok winger. He wasn’t doing a tour of airports; a ubiquitous poster bore his image, alongside a simple message just as relevant this week: ‘‘The waiting’s over.’’
Of course, that ‘‘waiting’’ had not just been for the arrival of another eagerly awaited Rugby World Cup, but for the tournament to come to the republic, a year after its first democratic elections, and for the Boks to get a chance finally to be part of the global showpiece.
Ironically for ‘‘Chessie’’ his own waiting was not yet over. Picked for the tournament, he was forced to withdraw due to injury, but was called in as a replacement for the knockout stages as South Africa went on to win a tournament most notable for the full-force emergence of Jonah Lomu, and the appearance at the final, in Springbok green and gold, of Nelson Mandela.
The waiting for this year’s ninth World Cup has contained different elements. When Japan and rugby minnows Russia square off at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium tomorrow, it will herald the start of the first World Cup held in a nation that’s not a rugby powerhouse. Japan won’t be considered potential champions, but the significance of the tournament being hosted in a country with a hugely committed rugby following will nonetheless not be lost on anyone.
It’s a major honour, and given Japan’s success when, alongside South Korea, it was one of the first hosts outside Europe or the Americas of the Fifa World Cup in 2002, expectations of a successful tournament, ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics, are high.
The wait for a New Zealand victory now is nowhere near as tortured as it once was. With two consecutive triumphs, further entrenchment of the All Blacks’ global supremacy is the fervent hope, a far cry from the pain of the 24-year drought that preceded the hosting of the tournament in this country in 2011.
A third straight title beckons, though perhaps the dreams of glory are not quite as convincing as four years ago, with more potential winners apparent than at any previous World Cup.
Of course, the anticipation embodied in that 1995 poster is not universal, though the exploits of Steve Hansen’s black-clad troops will dominate the New Zealand news cycle for the next six weeks. In this country and others, Women’s Refuges and their international equivalents will be braced for the possibility of an upsurge in domestic violence connected to an untimely defeat, or even just the elevated alcohol consumption the tournament will kick off in pubs and clubs globally.
It’s a tournament that will have the shadow of immense sadness over it, following the deaths of several greats, from Lomu, 18 days after the 2015 final, to Williams less than a fortnight ago. Between those came the 2017 death from motor neuron disease of legendary Bok halfback Joost van der Westhuizen, whose friendship with Lomu touched fans worldwide with its deep sense of camaraderie and mutual respect.
Would it be too much to hope for that spirit to prevail, among players, organisers and fans, both in Japan and across the world’s rugby-mad nations?
Women’s Refuges and their international equivalents will be braced for the possibility of an upsurge in domestic violence connected to an untimely defeat.