Jean de Villiers addresses the crowd at Eastbourne
The Springboks were given a vibrant and rousing reception at their official Rugby World Cup Welcoming Ceremony, held at the iconic Winter Gardens in Eastbourne on Sunday afternoon.
Hundreds of rugby fans lined the street and packed the venue as the Springboks, led out by coach Heyneke Meyer, entered the theatre to the sounds of well-known British hard rock band Led Zeppelin.
All the players received their Rugby World Cup caps and participation medals, while the team management were also awarded medals.
The Springboks and gathered crowd were addressed by Mr Oregan Hoskins, President of the South African Rugby Union and Deputy President of World Rugby, Mr Ian Richie, CEO of the Rugby Football Union and the Worshipful the Mayor of Eastbourne, Councillor Janet Coles.
Meyer and Springbok captain Jean de Villiers spoke on behalf of the team and thanked all the Springboks’ bases for the duration of the tournament for their efforts, as well as the throngs of fans who made the team feel welcome in England.
Springbok captain Jean de Villiers stole the show. Master statesman and ambassador that he is, that had the crowd baying for more as he opened by turning his back on the audience to take a crowd selfie, encouraging them to participate in the background and gave a fabulous speech to underline his worth to the team off the field.
“I’m one of the oldest guys in the team, not the oldest,” De Villiers joked as he started his speech, “And I’m not that into social media, but I just thought for the sake of this event – I see a lot of flashes and cameras – maybe we can get 1 selfie together. I’m going to stand on stage here and you go wild.”
The moment was greeted with cheers, applause and some catcalls as the local community embraced De Villiers’s antics in the spirit they were intended.
De Villiers said the photo would be a hit on “Bryan Habana’s Instagram” and then continued to joke about his teammates, including a few barbs at vice-captain Victor Matfield’s age.
Jean de Villiers takes a ‘SELFIE’ with the crowd at Eastbourne, England, where the team is based.
Set in the Winter Gardens Theatre – the 2nd venue after the Eastbourne Bandstand was drenched in rain – De Villiers enjoyed the brief history lesson of the Theatre being built in 1870 and used it to his advantage.
“It’s always a great event to be at a Rugby World Cup and some of us have been working towards this our whole lives, but it is important to congratulate those who are at their debut World Cup tournament,” De Villiers said.
“It’s also a very special occasion for Schalk (Burger) and Victor (Matfield) making their 4th appearances at a World Cup. What is even more remarkable is that Victor was at the opening of the theatre back in 1870 and he said to me it was great to finally get back here.”
De Villiers then turned to the coastal resort town, saying Eastbourne was “the sunniest place in the UK” as the rain drenched down outside.
“It has a staggering average of 36.4 hours of sunshine a week. That is really fantastic. It is a pity we missed out on 1 of those hours today,” he added to roars of laughter from the big crowd.
De Villiers did also have a serious message, telling the crowd that “to us playing for the Springboks is so much more than rugby, we know the responsibility that goes with it. Playing on a platform like the World Cup is about building our nation, unifying us as a people.”
De Villiers also spoke about how they want to leave a lasting impression of a side that interacted with the community they were in and thanked the throngs of supporters for coming out.
“Yet again we are completely humbled by the amazing support we’ve received,” said Meyer.
“We’ve been in England for a little over 24 hours now and it’s been nothing but amazing. The organisers and everyone else involved in this Rugby World Cup have done a great job so far and it really feels like the tournament has now started.
“But it’s the support from locals and our Springbok fans here in England that has really made a mark on this team, and we are truly grateful.”
The Springboks will have their first training session on English soil on Monday afternoon at Eastbourne College. The team to face Japan at the Brighton Community Stadium will be named on Wednesday.
Sport24 & SuperSport
Springboks seem to be in a very good mood… and that is a massive positive at this early stage.
“Wing Eli Walker has pulled out of Wales’ World Cup squad because of a hamstring injury.
The once-capped Ospreys player, 23, was himself a late call-up after full-back Leigh Halfpenny was ruled out with a knee injury”
Walker’s place in Wales squad has been taken by Ross Moriarty a loose forward. He is 21 and played at U20 level for England, quite strong player but bit of a vuilgat as far as I have seen.
Would have thought Rhys Patchell would have been a better replacement for fullback for Wales. He is at flyhalf for Cardiff but sure have seen him at fullback as well, big player 191cm 92kg who has a big accurate boot, put some good kicks over again past weekend in the PRO12. Would help when replacing someone as good with the boot as 1/2 penny and with his height think he would be quite safe at the back.
South Africa
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 JP Pietersen
Feel bad for DDA for missing out on the first game, but no doubt he will be playing next week against Samoa, we will definitely need him.
Blue Bulls:
Warrick Gelant, Travis Ismaiel, Dries Swanepoel, Burger Odendaal, Jamba Ulengo, Louis Fouché, Francois Hougaard, Lappies Labuschagne (k), Roelof Smit, Deon Stegmann, Marvin Orie, Jacques du Plessis, Marcel van der Merwe, Bandise Maku, Pierre Schoeman. Plaasvervangers: Jaco Visagie, Werner Kruger, RG Snyman, Arno Botha, Ivan van Zyl, Tian Schoeman, Jan Serfontein.
Well let’s hope that Louis Fouche can someone get his career back on track and regain the trust of us supporters, but it is goign to be tough behind a pack in reverse gear.
Happy with the loose forward combination for now, but Lappies will need to work on his technique at the breakdown before he gets labeled another “penalty machine”.
MacroPolo wrote:
No Duane Vermeulen?
I thought he was fit to go?
@ nortie:
Hi nortie – I saw on another article that HM said that although Duane and Eben are fit, they are being given another week to get “fully” match fit . . . or something like that. Don’t quote me!
@ MacroPolo:
@ nortie:
Very, very experienced Team, Mr Polo and Naughtie.
Burger and Bizzie, the eye gougers.
Victoria and Jean, the pensioners.
Bryan and Mvovo on the fringes.
Prince Albert………………………………is he ready after such a long lay-off?
Then there are Kriel and Lood……………………….very exciting newcomers. Very.
Lambie and Ruin……………………………not the best options, but the all players need game time.
Solid bench, but not an impact bench.
SA by 18.
@ GoBokkeAndIreland:
Ireland…………………………………..Every-bodies favourite dark horse.
Can’t wait to see how they fare.
A Blue Bulls supporter’s Sunday “To Do” list…
1 Apologise to wife for the blue eye
2 Make wife breakfast in bed, again apologising for the blue eye
3 Replace broken TV in living room with spare from bedroom
4 Shop at Builders Warehouse for replacement cupboard doors
5 Apologise to neighbours for drunkenness & police presence
6 Take wife & kids out for lunch, KFC will work fine. Apologise again for giving her a blue eye
7 Buy a Lions shirt and shout “Lions”!!!
GoBokkeAndIreland wrote:
Strange decision then.
Here is what Vermeulen himself said….”Having completed his rehabilitation from the neck surgery, Vermeulen admitted that at times doubt had set in over his availability to be fit in time for the World Cup.
But at no stage was he ready to give up the fight.
“I am ready and fit to go,” he told the media scrum.
“I can’t wait to get on the pitch and just play a game.”
Back to his regular weight, he said he is happy with his conditioning ahead of his maiden World Cup appearance.
“Some days you feel that your are not ready and perhaps should not be here, but I am very happy and glad I am in the squad.”
While there was a lot of exercises he did during his rehabilitation, he admitted taking contact on the field is what he craves most.”
http://www.rugby365.com/tournaments/world-cup/68603-duane-boks-sidestep-sideshows
If he is fit and raring to go, as they would have had us to believe, I don’t see why he isn’t playing.
Maybe he just isn’t first choice nr 8 anymore and Schalk has surpassed him
@ cane:
Hi Caner
If SA don’t win by at least 40 plus then there is a problem IMO.
The pool games are a breeze, they should rack up the points like nobodies business.
Then it’s hit and miss.
@ nortie:
Teams like Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, (and even Argentina).
usually have great difficulty in assembling a Team of all their best players. (because they are scattered all over the Rugby World).
This is NOT SO in RWC years.
Any win at all over Samoa,
specially in the first game of a RWC, should be counted as ………………………A Good first up effort. And something to build on.
I can assure you Nortie, they will be motivated.
Very motivated.
🙂
@ cane:
I’m sure they will be highly motivated, just like the Boks are highly motivated every time they run out against the AB’s….before they run out of steam and are outclassed.
Motivation, guts and glory can only take you so far….ultimately class prevails
@ cane:
Hi Cane. Yip – I put a few bucks on them with the bookies.
So at least I’ve got 2 teams to support!
@ nortie:
I think its unrealistic and should be avoided to play the “best” 23 in every game of the tournament.
I also think we should beat them by at least 40 in every game. But strange things happen under world cup pressure and expectations.
We should beat them comfortably… Well hopefully, but by 40 at least is unfairly dismissive imo.
@ cane:
Samoa is like the all black b team. Quite a good team they put together.
Also what are the odds of fiji upsetting england? In a game with few scrums that is indeed possible. England should try to force as many as they can.
@ MacroPolo:
Do we even know who our “best 23” is?
Dismissive to who? The day we as Bok supporters start talking up the prowess of Japan and don’t expect to smash them by plenty is the day Bok rugby is in trouble IMO.
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Sounds like a bulls supporter living in brackenfell 😉
@ MacroPolo:
Hey, I know one of those! But she’s a she!
@ nortie:
I say “best” because it will differ with almost anyone.
Well in 2007 we nearly lost to Tonga and few statements were made about bok rugby being in trouble. Or 2011 when tonga defeated entual finalists france.
It is dismissive to pretend that the pressures of a world cup is not a factor or else new zealand would be sitting with 5 trophies by now.
21 @ MacroPolo:
I know WC pressure is real, but not in the pool stages, unless it’s a couple of top tier teams playing each other.
SA has the easiest pool, it may count against us come QF and we might be found to be underdone, but the games against Japan and the USA should be huge scores.
Samoa and Scotland could be closer, but should still be comfortable victories.
From the QF onwards anything can happen
@ MacroPolo:
Also, bear in mind that this team selected is the most capped Bok side ever, so it stands to reason they should dispatch Japan easily
@ nortie:
I think nz have the easier poor.
Im more worried about samoa than scotland. Its actually a pretty good team. The last time we played them in a wc we only managed to beat them 13-5. Then outside the wc we defeated them 56-23… They are damn tough during the wc.
Expecting an automatic 40 point is ridiculous. When we both know you would find even 50 points underwhelming 😉
@ MacroPolo:
I’m expecting, no demanding, that we beat the Japanese and USA by a minimum of 40 points….should be more, depending on the weather.
Samoa and Scotland, well I would expect us to beat them by at least 15 plus
@ MacroPolo:
have quickly put threads with Boks and Fiji teams for their games up. Time to go back to making tea.
~4&5 Thanks for posting the teams Macro
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