A hundred theories, perhaps more, have been floated about what makes the Springboks so formidable and bloody-minded.
The answer lies somewhere in Mike Greenaway’s impressive new book “Bok to Bok”, which chronicles the Springboks’ remarkable journey to becoming World Cup champions in 2023, four years after their previous triumph.
The answer isn’t there in black and white, but there are enough golden threads to pull together a fine summary of how they recovered, built and sustained their majesty over two World Cups, and beyond.
“The losers might say it was luck, but South Africans know better, for they live in the land of ‘Vasbyt’, a demanding environment where you mostly have to make your own luck,” writes Greenaway, a veteran sport writer who knows how to tell a good story.
”Part of the deal for South Africans is learning to hang tough because the daily challenges are sterner than in most countries.”
Greenaway, a supreme rugby tourist, knows.
From Bloem to Paris
He weaves a story that is magical from beginning to end, but there are enough nods to the past to know that there were dark days too. However, as he points out, the best part of this book is knowing how it ends.
He takes readers on the journey from where the Boks planned and plotted 2023, which ironically took hold in the wake of a miserable one-point defeat to Wales in Bloemfontein in 2022, and culminates in that fateful, frenetic night in Paris.
The book is written in bite-sized chunks, a clever device given how it allows for self-contained views and thoughts from a range of Springboks and indeed the coaches themselves. It’s hard to dip in and not have memories flooding back, not least because the accompanying imagery is so outstanding.
Greenaway teamed up with long-time pal and eminent photographer Steve Haag to ensure the book had even greater appeal. Haag’s images flood the book and his own history as a former rugby player reflects in his obvious understanding and appreciation for the game.
More than that, he lit the fire for the book to get written.
“Steve and I are good mates,” Greenaway told Got Game. “He went to the World Cup and when he came back he said ‘I have these great pictures, why don’t you do a book? About 80 percent of the pics are Steve’s and the rest I bought from French agencies.
“On New Year’s Day of this year SuperSport showed all of the Springboks’ World Cup games. I watched every one, took notes and that evening said, ‘damn it, there has to be a book’.”
The result is a tome – self-published no less – that does justice to the splendour of the Springboks.
The greatest Boks ever?
Perhaps.
There are many wonderful anecdotes. Take this gem from Stuart Barnes, the erudite former England flyhalf who has long had a soft spot for South Africa: “I was in a bar in Marseille watching the quarter-finals. The TV cameras stayed on the pitch for some time after the final whistle. The South Africans did not do what American or British teams would do – dance and hug and kiss – they immediately went to the devastated French players lying on the pitch. They tried to pick them up and put their arms around them.
“South Africans are hugely sporting. What I saw there was more important than anything else. The Springboks get a lot of stick, and some of it is deserved, but when you see individuals with the humanity to think about the people they have just beaten, you think ‘I would not mind hanging around with those blokes. They are alright’.”
Such nuggets are to be found throughout the book, and there are constant references to the innovation that has become a foundation of the Rassie Eramus legacy.
“How the f**k do the opposition analyse us?” asks the coach. “We must be a nightmare. They have almost nothing to go on because not only are there different combinations every week but often we put a player in a different position.”
Touché.
This is a work that unashamedly celebrates the Springboks. It is finely done and emphatically does justice to a very special band of men.
