Schalk Brits couldn’t resist a light-hearted dig at Ireland’s Rugby World Cup failures as he assessed the Springboks’ impressive 2024 campaign.
South Africa followed up their success at the global tournament with a superb season as they won 11 of their 13 matches and claimed the Rugby Championship title.
They have battled with Andy Farrell’s men for top spot over the course of the campaign, but the Boks eventually ended the year at the summit.
Contrasting World Cup records
It was Ireland who spent the build-up to the 2023 World Cup at the top of the World Rugby rankings, but they once again succumbed in the quarter-finals.
Their record of not getting past the last-eight remains, which is in stark contrast to the Springboks, who have claimed four world titles, including the previous two in 2019 and 2023.
“People don’t remember who the number one team is in the world every year, but everyone remembers who wins the World Cup. I would definitely rather win the World Cup,” Brits told SportsBoom.
The former Boks hooker then added with a smile: “It must be terrible to be Ireland – they’ve been ranked number one, but they could not even get a semi!”
Farrell’s charges came so close to ending years of hurt but it ultimately ended in heartbreak as they narrowly went down to the All Blacks.
The Springboks, however, managed to win those tight matches, defeating France, England and New Zealand all by one point on their way to lifting the Webb Ellis Cup.
And Brits credits the genius of Rassie Erasmus for that ability to change losses into victories.
“There have been amazing Springbok sides before, but these players are playing for something much bigger than themselves, they’re playing for hope,” he said.
“There are many ills in South Africa, but the Springboks can transform the country through their diversity. If they can make it work, being made up of people from all walks of life, then we can make our country beautiful.
“Rassie said we could show South Africa that we could work together with our colour, religion or background being irrelevant, we could inspire the next Springbok from our community.
“We would probably lose a much higher percentage of those one-point games were it not for our ‘why’ being very well determined: It’s not about rugby for us, it’s about giving hope to 65 million people.”
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Year-end tour
South Africa have not suffered a lull since the World Cup and went through the northern hemisphere tour unbeaten for the first time since 2013.
The Springboks did not face Ireland or France but they got past what was put in front of them relatively comfortably.
England provided the toughest challenge but Erasmus’ men still claimed a nine-point triumph at Twickenham last month.
“Winning against Scotland, England and Wales on the recent tour is important, but for Rassie there’s a bigger plan. So, he will keep rotating, which puts the players under pressure and gives the team depth,” Brits added.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/it-must-be-terrible-to-be-ireland-ex-springbok-schalk-brits-issues-cheeky-dig-at-andy-farrells-side
