Big turnaround by Springboks

STELLAR YEAR: RASSIE’S MEN STUN ALL THEIR CRITICS

The 2019 season will go down as one of the best in the history of the Springbok team. Not only did they win the Rugby World Cup for the third time, beating England 32-12 in the final in Japan in November, but significantly it was also the first time they lifted the title with a black captain at the helm after being led by flank Siya Kolisi.

In addition, the Boks made history by becoming the first team to win the Rugby Championship and the World Cup in the same year, with head coach Rassie Erasmus lifting them out of the doldrums after they had conceded 50-pointers to the All Blacks in 2016 and 2017.

To top it all, Erasmus was named World Rugby Coach of the Year, the Boks were unveiled as the Team of the Year and flank

Pieter-Steph du Toit was recognised as Player of the Year.

It was not an entirely smooth path, however, and the Boks had to overcome several obstacles on their way to the World Cup final.

After losing their opening pool game in a 23-13 defeat to defending champions New Zealand, they had to win six matches on the trot to claim the trophy, conceding just four tries throughout the tournament.

Everything had seemingly been set up for the Boks and the All Blacks to face each other in the final for the first time since 1995, but England outplayed New Zealand in the semifinals.

While England progressed as the favourites for the final, they were ultimately played off the park by a strong Bok pack who annihilated the England scrum and tackled them into submission.

While the Boks were placed under pressure in the trophy battle, leading 18-12 with less than 15 minutes to play, crucial tries by wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe in the 67th and 73rd minutes wrapped up a comprehensive win.

In total, the Boks played 12 Tests this year, losing just once at the global showpiece.

After falling to the All Blacks in their tournament opener, they went on to beat Namibia (57-3), Italy (49-3) and Canada (66-7) in pool matches, before handing hosts Japan a 26-3 defeat in the quarterfinals and edging Wales 19-16 in the semifinals.

The Boks also went unbeaten in the Championship, securing a 35-17 victory over Australia at Ellis Park, holding New Zealand to a 16-16 draw in Wellington and racing to a resounding 46-13 win over Argentina in Salta.

In warm-up matches before the World Cup they beat the Pumas 24-18 at Loftus Versfeld and earned a 41-7 win over Japan in Yokohama.