Springboks celebrate 3rd Place at Rugby World Cup 2015

South Africa said goodbye to a large swathe of great players in victorious fashion when they defeated Argentina 24 / 13 in the bronze medal final on Friday.

Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez and Bryan Habana (above) will all be over 35 come Japan 2019, while 38-year-old Victor Matfield, who captained them in the bronze medal match at the Olympic stadium, has already announced his retirement for the 2nd time.

All 4 were members of a glorious few years for the Springboks in which they bestrode the world. It began when Jake White’s team won the 2007 World Cup and, under his replacement Peter de Villiers, they won the 2009 Tri-Nations then beat the British & Irish Lions 2 / 1 in a Test series in the same year.

Du Preez, Habana and Matfield were also part of the Blue Bulls team that was coached by Heyneke Meyer and became the 1st South African franchise to win the Super Rugby title, in 2007.

“I’m really proud of the last 12 years, the highs and the lows, it has been an unbelievable journey,” Habana said. “I’m not too sure it’s the end yet. There is a lot to happen with South African rugby with a new coach.

“I have a lot of time to sit back, relax and assess where I am. Where I am as a person, where I am as a player and maybe sit back and write a few more goals for the next few years.”

After an exhausting tournament, Habana couldn’t conjure up 1 last try to move ahead of Jonah Lomu as the all-time Rugby World Cup try-scorer.

He, Julian Savea and the New Zealand great are tied on 15 tries and he missed 3 gilt-edged chances in the 1st half against Argentina. Twice he was out-paced to grubber kicks and in between he was on the end of an unsympathetic pass from Handré Pollard that he failed to catch with the line at his mercy.

“It definitely wasn’t for lack of trying,” he said. “Opportunities come and sometimes things don’t happen for a reason. I have a lot of respect for Jonah and maybe rightly his record stays around for a little bit longer.

“I definitely won’t be at 2019. I will take some time off now and decide where I am as a player. I am still feeling very good. I have got club commitments coming up in 2 weeks’ time and have to get back to Toulon and put in some hard work there.”

Daniel Hourcade’s team were unable to rouse themselves for 1 last match, though replacement Juan Pablo Orlandi twisted himself in more knots than is probably healthy for a prop forward to score a try well into time added on to have the last word.

It was no less than Los Pumas deserved after they lit up the match and the tournament with some breathtaking rugby.

Their admission to the Rugby Championship in 2012 has allowed the team to grow and develop since New Zealand 2011 and nearly match the bronze medal they won at France 2007.

With a Buenos Aires team entering Super Rugby, the hope is their players will have even more chances to test themselves and then enjoy victories against the very best.

“Of course it’s been great for us to join the Tri-Nations (The Rugby Championship),” Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, a man who was part of both the 2007 and 2015 campaigns, said.

“We just needed to have more games and to stay together for more time. It’s not by chance that 7 out of 8 Rugby World Cups have been won by southern hemisphere teams. I think as rugby players we have to respect they are playing at another level.”

Heyneke Meyer

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer paid tribute to the role of the senior players in claiming the Rugby World Cup bronze medal.

Meyer said he was proud of the way in which his team turned their Rugby World Cup campaign around from an opening defeat to Japan to finish in 3rd place after beating Argentina by 24 / 13 in London on Friday evening.

The Springboks scored 2 tries to the 1 of the Pumas, with JP Pietersen and Eben Etzebeth dotting down. Handré Pollard added 4 penalty goals and a conversion in a match where Argentina enjoyed the lions’ share of possession and territorial advantage and forced the South Africans to spend most of the time on defence.

When asked about the role of the senior players in the squad, some of whom will retire from international rugby, Meyer said that they had played a crucial role.

“They really put up their hands and led this team very well after the defeat in week 1, and I can’t praise them enough,” he said.

Meyer reiterated that finishing 3rd will never be acceptable for the Springboks but that he was proud of his team’s efforts after they lost in the opening Round to Japan.

“I’ve said that only a win is good enough for me and my team,” said Meyer.

“But I’m very proud of the way in which we came back into the tournament after losing to Japan. To turn things around after the 1st game, with your 2 captains out injured, and to still come as close as we did in the end, speaks of character.

“It’s good to be in this position tonight and to have claimed the bronze medal, but we would still have preferred to play in the final. That was what we were aiming for.

“What will stand out for me about this tournament is the amazing support we received from the start, right until the end. Everywhere we went in the UK but also from back home in South Africa, people stood by us and we can’t thank them enough.

“This has been an amazing tournament, and we’re a group of proud South Africans to be a part of it.”

Commenting on the game, Meyer lauded his team’s defence, especially in the 2nd half, when the Argentineans came with a big onslaught.

“I thought our impact players made a big difference and our defence was great,” said the Springbok coach.

“We made a lot of tackles and we managed to keep them out right until that try in injury time, which showed the guys really put their bodies on the line.”

Victor Matfield, who captained the Springboks in his last Test, said he was not sorry that he decided to come out of retirement in 2014.

“After what I’ve experienced in the last 7 weeks with this team, coming back was definitely worth it,” said Matfield.

“After the defeat against Japan, we built a brotherhood in this team that is just fantastic.

“We were 1 penalty away from playing in the final. We really wanted to be there but the guys picked themselves up this week against a fantastic Argentinean team and we shut them out – in the end I think we won comfortably,” he said.

Heyneke Meyer & Francois Louw after the 3rd place win