SOUTH AFRICA TO FRANCE, SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND, 2002

The Springboks had struggled a bit during the 2002 Tri Nations. They lost their first three tests, finally posting their first victory in their last test at home to Australia. But while it wasn’t a great campaign, they hadn’t been that far away in any of the three games they had lost and they headed to Europe in November that year with some optimism that they could start to come together under coach Rudolf Straeuli who had taken over earlier that year.

Their first stop was Marseille, where they were easily beaten by the French 30-10. It was on to Murrayfield next, where, unbelievably, they were outplayed by Scotland. The Boks were never in it and Scotland posted a rare win – defeating South Africa 21-6. By this stage, the Boks were broken mentally.

For 23 minutes of their final test of the tour, they were hanging in there against England at Twickenham. But when Jannes Labuschagne was red-carded for a late tackle on Jonny Wilkinson, things went horribly wrong.

The Boks gave up playing and focused exclusively on trying to illegally, physically damage England. It was relentlessly ugly stu from the Boks and led by captain Corne Krige.

He would later write in his autobiography: “To this day, I still struggle to understand what went on inside my mind that day at Twickenham. When people ask me to describe my feelings and emotions during the game, I think back and recall all sorts of things.

“What happened came from a combination of spirit and the heightened sense of competition. Then there was the obvious desire not to lose, and refusing to accept defeat graciously.

“And there was the anger and resentment I felt towards England’s arrogance. After all, we had lost in Marseille and Edinburgh and nothing like this had happened there. We were on the back foot. Playing with only seven men against their forward pack was a nightmare. That imbalance in strength, combined with England’s attitude, motivated me to be as dirty as I could for the rest of the game.

“I knew that we were going to lose, but I made up my mind to take a few people down with me. I committed some appalling fouls, hitting people in possession and smashing others o the ball. Twickenham 2002 was a total disaster for all South Africans, but especially for me. It has taken me years to get over that one game.”

The Boks su ered a humiliating 55-3 loss and many of their team that day never played for South Africa again.