Rassie Erasmus and his Springbok squad proved to be good luck charms when they made a surprise visit to watch the Isuzu Southern Kings pull off a stunning 38-28 upset win over the Glasgow Warriors in Port Elizabeth at the weekend.
And Bok captain Siya Kolisi received a hero’s welcome in Zwide the next day when he visited the church he attended while growing up, with excited young children giggling and snapping selfies with him.
At Nelson Mandela University, where the Kings were playing the Scottish team in a Guinness PRO14 clash on Saturday, fans chanted Erasmus’s name as he relaxed in a VIP suite at the Madibaz Stadium.
The Bok coach, whose team shocked the All Blacks in their last game, is preparing his side for their Rugby Championship clash against Australia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this Saturday.
Erasmus, sipping a soft drink, must have been pleased with what he saw as the Kings ran in five tries against the Scottish outfit to record their first PRO14 win of the season.
Kings head coach Deon Davids said afterwards he had been so engrossed in the match that he had not noticed the Boks were inside the stadium.
“I did not even know the Boks were here,” Davids said.
“It is fantastic for them to have been here and I want to thank the Boks for their support. It is a very humbling experience.
“I also want to thank all our fans who came to watch us.
“We are happy we could put some smiles on their faces.”
Erasmus said his squad had started assembling as early as Friday in Port Elizabeth because they want to maintain the intensity that helped them pull off a win over New Zealand.
Interest in the match is high and SA Rugby officials said 42,000 tickets had already been sold for what promises to be an enthralling Test against a wounded Australian side who lost to Argentina in their last game.
It is expected that the remaining 4,000 tickets will sell out early this week to ensure a capacity 46,000 crowd.
Kolisi, meanwhile, was accompanied to the Old Apostolic Church on Sunday by fellow player Warren Whiteley, Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Mongameli Bobani and sport, recreation, arts & culture MEC Bulelwa Tunyiswa.
In an unprecedented move, a praise singer started off the prayer service, while the church’s two rugby teams formed a guard of honour as Kolisi and the rest of the procession entered the church.
A boy from the rugby teams showed off his acrobatics skills with the scorpion pose – a combination of a forearm stand and back bending.
Church elder Zukisani Matiwane said the service was about blessing Kolisi ahead of the match.
“Siya needs to be soberminded because whenever you lead people you need to be sober-minded,” he said
Tunyiswa said they had asked Kolisi to join the church service so that the children from the area could see what they could achieve through hard work and dedication.
“We want people to see that it is possible. We are proud of Siya because history has been rewritten in sport,” he said.
During a hymn, the boys in the choir showed off their dance moves – prompting Kolisi, Whiteley and Bobani to join them on stage.
Whiteley mimicked the moves while Kolisi looked at home singing and dancing along with the choir.
Kolisi told the congregation: “I always come back to PE, but today is the first time I’ve been back to the church and I truly feel at home.”
He encouraged the parents who were there to allow their children to play sports.
“To every parent here, please if your child wants to play sports encourage them because it will keep them off the streets.
“No matter what the situation is at home, they will always have something to look forward to,” he said.
During the service, children kept on walking up to Kolisi to take pictures.
And while Kolisi was thanking the church, the girls in the choir stood on stage taking videos and giggling every time he glanced their way.
The Boks had a brief break after returning from New Zealand, but will now prepare for their final two games of the Rugby Championship against Australia and the All Blacks in Pretoria. Seventeen members of the squad arrived in the Bay on Friday, while the remaining players jetted in on Sunday after playing Currie Cup rugby for their provinces.
“I’m sure all our players return fresh and energised for the last two matches,” Erasmus said.
“The home matches will give us time to work together as a group, to build on continuity and increase our depth.”
Bok fans will be able to meet their heroes during a meet and greet at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Monday. The training starts at 3pm and there is free entrance via the Fettes Road gate. Maintaining the furious intensity they showed against the All Blacks is vital if the resurgent Springboks want to beat a difficult Australian team in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus said.
The Boks are leaving nothing to chance for their Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies, which is expected to draw a sellout 46,000 crowd to Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Following their heroic win over the All Backs in their previous game, Erasmus says his players must remain grounded and focused on the task at hand.
“We do not want the guys to fly too high and think they are this world team that can beat anyone because we beat the All Blacks in our last game.
“The players must be right because we are playing a difficult Australian team.
“Keeping up that intensity is always a challenge.
“You know one can get overexcited, not looking at why we won, what we did well, and what not so well.
“That is why we have come in early to Port Elizabeth on Friday to make sure that we start our preparations and ensure we are focused as we were for the All Blacks game.”
The Bok coach is eager to get one over Australia after his men went down to the Wallabies in Brisbane earlier in the season.
“We are playing an Australian team we lost to last time and that is a bad thing.
“The Boks want to rectify that, first of all.
“I do not think we can read too much into Australia’s loss to Argentina last week.
“We have lost to both those teams this year.
“A year out from the World Cup, teams are trying and testing a few things at the cost of a loss sometimes.
“Australia are a team on the up, even if they were not so sharp the previous week.”
Erasmus said beating the All Blacks had given his team a massive boost.
“The players know we have to go through some growing pains before the World Cup if we want to be competitors.
“We did experiment a little bit against Australia and Argentina, and it cost us.
“The pressure was on the Bok coaching staff for the players to believe in our long-term vision.
“We [beat] New Zealand and [our] belief will be a bit more with the World Cup approaching.
“We talk about the World Cup, but there are two big Test matches coming up for us over the next two weeks, against Australia and New Zealand.
“Now the belief is there that it will be easy to get the players up for these games.
“I do not think we are in with a chance to win the Rugby Championship.
“I am pretty sure New Zealand will beat Argentina away from home.
“For us to keep growing and improving is the big thing for us in the next two weeks.”
Erasmus was relieved and proud his team had beaten New Zealand in New Zealand.
“When we started the planning for that match‚ we said we must try to beat them at home because we were at the back of two losses (Argentina and Australia) and lost some belief.
“So‚ we targeted the New Zealand game to say: ‘Can we turn things around and become contenders during the World Cup?’
“We could have lost, but it gives us confidence because no-one beat them here.”
Meanwhile, uncapped Blitzbok star Ruhan Nel, Vincent Koch (prop), Sbu Nkosi (wing), Lionel Mapoe (centre) and Ivan van Zyl (scrumhalf) have been added to the squad for their final two home matches against the Wallabies and the All Blacks.