OUR 5 BOK STARS OF THE WORLD CUP:
It was a brilliant team effort by the Springboks to bring the World Cup back home, but we challenged rugby writers Jacques van der Westhuyzen and Wynona Louw to pick their five individual ‘five-star Boks’ from Japan
Makazole Mapimpi
THERE were possibly a number of rugby fans who didn’t know too much about the Bok flier prior to the tournament, but pretty much everyone who watches the game now knows who Mapimpi is.
The Bok wing had something of a question mark hanging over his head before the tournament started, with many wanting S’bu Nkosi to replace him, but credit must go to coach Rassie Erasmus for sticking with the wing, who became a superstar in Japan.
He scored six tries, the second most in the tournament, including that stunner in the final.
Cheslin Kolbe, in the back-three, was also excellent throughout.
Duane Vermeulen
AFTER the final, I wrote that there are two kinds of forward forces in your opposing pack you unfortunately have to deal with sometimes – there’s beast mode and then there’s Duane.
He was colossal, done.
It’s not like he slacked before the team’s departure to Japan, but when the World Cup came, he took it to another level.
Throughout the World Cup, he was a menace on the ground for the opposition, he tackled like an already-angry man possessed and his carries were monstrous.
Damian de Allende
WOW, how De Allende silenced his critics over the course of the greatest few weeks of his life.
The big centre’s talent has never been in dispute, but up to this year he so seldom dominated in the No 12 channel and took charge of the inside centre position.
He was outstanding for the Boks; his consistency the hallmark of his performance at the tournament.
He carried regularly and strongly and got the Boks onto the front foot, he tackled superbly and even contested ball on the ground.
And how about that power-try against Wales, which helped the Boks over the line in a tight game.
Cheslin Kolbe
THERE are two things Owen Farrell is probably still searching the International Stadium pitch for – Kolbe and the Webb Ellis Cup.
How good was the build-up to Kolbe’s try in the final? Ridiculous. He’s been a standout throughout the season, and when the World Cup came, Kolbe was consistently one of the most influential Boks in Japan.
When he got the chance, his attacking play was so good it could have featured as an RWC ad all on its own, but it’s what he did on defence, under the high ball, and that eagerness and courageous work that perfectly complimented his hypnotising attacking play.
Pieter-Steph du Toit
THE 2019 World Player of the Year edges out his captain Siya Kolisi and No 8 and Man of the Match in the final, Duane Vermeulen, as the Boks’ standout loose-forward because of his consistency and versatility.
Du Toit was the heartbeat of the Boks loose-trio; he led the team in the number of tackles made (61 in five games, though Kolisi was not far behind with 57), he carried hard, and he won line-out ball.
Du Toit worked his socks off across the field and was even on hand in the final to receive Lukhanyo Am’s pick up to feed Kolbe for the winger’s cup-sealing try in Yokohama.
Damian de Allende
THE Boks should now just call him General Go-To.
Need someone to give you momentum and get metres? He’s your man. A guy to blaze a trail from first phase and leave all the defenders in flames? He’ll take your call. Someone to hit rucks and do his thing on the ground? He’ll be there.
And when it came to tackling … I’d say if the refereess hadn’t worn a distinguishable shade of red, he’d probably have tackled them, too.
De Allende had absolutely no equal when it came to the inside centre position, and there can be no doubt as to the vital role he played in bringing Old Bill home. Class.
Frans Malherbe
IT IS believed that the legendary Danie Craven once said that after the starting tighthead prop, the next name on the team sheet should always be the reserve tighthead prop.
Well, in the case of the Boks, having two quality tightheads in the matchday squad has served them very well indeed.
The quiet, never smiling, seemingly always grumpy Malherbe was, in a word, a superstar in Japan.
He anchored a brilliant and dominant Bok scrum, which no team got the better of, and it won the Boks plenty of penalties.
Back-up Vincent Koch was equally impressive after he’d replaced the unlucky Trevor Nyakane.
Pieter-Steph du Toit
NEED I say more than “World Rugby Player of the Year”? Doubt it, but here goes anyways.
There’s something almost otherworldly about the Stormers star. In fact, next time World Rugby decide to pass time by testing something like a nipple-line tackle technique, they should rather check out Du Toit … no normal man can have an engine like that.
Du Toit has been immense for the Boks, and before that, he was just as huge for the Stormers. He just doesn’t stop. And in a Bok pack that should have gained superstar status after the Japan spectacle, he was one of the brightest stars.
Tendai Mtawarira
THERE had been questions for a few years about the form and ability of an “aging” Beast, but boy, did the veteran No 1 deliver when it mattered.
Mtawarira has produced time and time again for the Boks, and on the biggest stages, and should now be spoken of in the same light as two-time World Cup winner, Os du Randt.
In his farewell Tests in Japan, and especially in the final against England, it was the 34-year-old who led the rout at scrum-time, which became the foundation of the Boks’ triumph. He was pumped up and desperate to get that gold medal around his neck and nothing was going to stop him.
Makazole Mapimpi
NEVER mind what else he did or didn’t do, Mapimpi takes this one just for those tries.
Sure, he could have been busier at certain times or in certain games, but when he got a bit of space to work with next to touch, he worked it, properly.
I strongly felt that at least one of the Bok props – or the whole front row, for that matter – also deserved a spot on the list … but you can’t just cancel out the kind of tries the winger scored. Sensational.