Cup would cap prop’s career
Beating England in final would be a ‘dream come true’ for 116-cap Beast
When Joel Stransky dropped the winning goal in the 1995 World Cup final in Johannesburg, Tendai Mtawarira did not have a clue the game was going on. He was more than 1000km away in Harare and more interested in football.
“I was just a primary school kid in Zimbabwe back then,” recalled the veteran Springboks loosehead, who will pack down opposite Kyle Sinckler in Saturday’s World Cup final. “I didn’t watch rugby. I was playing soccer.
“In 2007, though [ when South Africa beat England in the final in Paris], I did watch and it was amazing, inspirational stuff.
“To be part of a World Cup final is a dream come true for me. I have worked hard throughout my whole career to get here and I want to make it count.”
Mtawarira — or “Beast” as he is universally known — will be one of South Africa’s key players on Saturday. Aged 34, he may no longer be the physical specimen he once was. The rampaging runs have slowed, the shouts of “Beeeaaast” as he drives over the gain line with two or three defenders hanging off him marginally less frequent.
But there is a reason Boks coach Rassie Erasmus keeps picking him. Mtawarira weighs 115kg, is hugely powerful and technically gifted, more than capable of giving Sinckler nightmares if the England tighthead is not on his game.
Just ask Phil Vickery. Mtawarira had only converted from the back row to prop a couple of years before the Lions toured South Africa in 2009, having been spotted playing for Zimbabwe under-19s by the Natal Sharks.
Beast won the first test at Kings Park almost single-handedly, becoming something of a cult figure in the process. A decade on, he has made 116 appearances for his country.
Erasmus’ plan will be to use his heavy front row of Mtawarira, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe to sap England’s energy before sending on his finishers.
Mtawarira says he will give his opposite man the respect he deserves on Saturday night, Sinckler having emerged as one of the world rugby’s best tightheads in the past two years. But he will not be fazed facing a front row of Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Sinckler. “They’re playing great rugby,” he said. “Mako and Kyle have really been performing well. They’ve definitely formed a great combination. It will be exciting to go up against them.” Mtawarira said the extra day off England enjoyed following their win over New Zealand on Saturday, before South Africa defeated Wales on Sunday, would “not make a massive difference”. But he did reckon the comprehensive manner of England’s victory made them marginal favourites.
“I’d probably say so,” he said. “They are playing really well. Their performance was brilliant. Maybe we’re the underdogs. We are going to have to be at our best. They outplayed a really good team [in New Zealand].
“We’re going to have to be very physical. It’s going to be a game for the big moments. It’s all about who takes charge of those big moments.”
Born and raised in Harare, Mtawarira’s route to the top was circuitous — via a full scholarship to renowned rugby nursery Peterhouse Boys’ School, before, in quick succession, Zimbabwe under-19s, the Natal Sharks and then the Springboks.
And it has not been without its setbacks.
As South Africa’s fortunes have risen and fallen over the past decade, so his own form has dipped at times.
But he has been an unbelievably consistent presence on the international stage and has more than earned this shot at World Cup glory. He has faith.
South Africa and England are 2-2 in terms of games won in the past 18 months. But he said he paid no attention to those results, or to the fact that no country has won the World Cup having lost one of their pool games.
“What has happened in the past doesn’t really count,” he said. “England are playing great rugby and with confidence, so it is going to be a big challenge for us. But it’s all about grabbing those big moments out there. We know we’ll have to play out of our skins to win on Saturday.”