Rugby union in South Africa
Rugby Union is next to football and cricket the most popular sport in South Africa. The South African national team, " Springboks " called one of the best in the world and has so far won two times the World Cup.
History
1861 brought Georgie Canon Ogilvie the Winchester football to Cape Town, where he worked as director of the Diocesan College. This variation of football resembled the present-day rugby and is regarded as the origin of sport in South Africa. The first game was played in 1862 between an army and a selection team consisting of administrative staff and finished 0-0. 1876 founded the first rugby club in the country and the Winchester football played soon no longer matters. Quickly the game spread over the provinces of Cape Town Eastern Cape and Natal from up to Johannesburg.
Was founded in 1883 to the Western Province Rugby Football Union, the first regional rugby union in the country. He continued until 1889 as far as it was to create an overarching national association called South African Rugby Board in life. In the same year, the first national tournament took place between individual provinces. 1891 traveled a South African selection to the UK to compete there against the British and Irish Lions. This was also the first official international match.
During the Second Boer War, the British wore some games against Boers in the prisons, so that rugby in this part of the population became a popular sport. Also in the "black" population of the sports played an important role. 1896 they had founded their own association, the South Africa Coloured Rugby Board. The player who belonged to this association were not allowed with the "Whites" play together and received little financial support to pursue the sport. Even before the establishment of apartheid in 1948 saw individual countries recognize the need to keep players with "non- white " background of the matches against South Africa. The New Zealand All Blacks waived among other players such as George Nepia.
Result of the systematic racial segregation the " Springboks " were isolated internationally and came so hard to match practice. After the uprising in Soweto in 1976, however, toured the New Zealanders in South Africa, to play against the national team. It was followed by the boycott of the 21 Summer Olympics in Montreal by 16 African countries. The following year, the Commonwealth countries signed the Gleneagles Agreement in which they forbade any sporting contact with South Africa. A planned tour of the " Springboks " to France was suppressed by the French Government. 1981 was, however, the New Zealand Association of South African entry to the New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon did not intervene. As a result of these events, the International Rugby Board banned the South African Association of any gaming operations until the end of apartheid. In 1992, one South Africa back into its ranks on.
1995 were the " Springboks " for the first time to participate in a World Cup, at the same time they were the hosts. There, the team did win the title. Nelson Mandela handed over to the winners of the Webb Ellis Cup, which is one of the most iconic events in the sport today. In 2006, the Association celebrated its 100th anniversary and presented its new logo. The following year, the national team was world champion for the second time. With the end of the tournament Pieter de Villiers took over as coach, making it the first "black" national coach of South Africa. Meanwhile, the team is a multicultural unit, consisting of both " white " and " black " players.
Competitions
The South African provinces occurred since 1889 in the Currie Cup gegeinander to. The trophy is named after Sir Donald Currie, was the owner of the Union - Castle Line. This cruise line allowed the British to travel to South Africa. First, the trophy was handed over to the team with the best performance and the largest sporting spirit, until it became a continuous competition was.
With the professionalization of the sport emerged in 1996 the establishment of the International League Super 12 (later Super 14, Super Rugby) accompanied a tournament between New Zealand, Australian and South African franchises. South Africa currently provides five teams. These are the Bulls, the Central Cheetahs, Lions, the Sharks and the Stormers. So far, the Bulls were able to win the league title once.
National
The South African national team, " Springboks " has twice won the 1995 and 2007 world championship title. From the World Championships in 1987 and 1991, one was excluded because of apartheid. In addition to the two titles in 1999 South Africa was able to decide the 3rd place match for themselves.
The team takes gold in green jerseys. The first official international game you played in 1891 against the British and Irish Lions. Since 1996, the " Springboks " occur annually in the Tri Nations against Australia and New Zealand. So far, they have the tournament three times, winning in 1998, 2004 and 2009. Especially the duels with New Zealand are important for South Africans. They are the only nation that can boast approximately budget balanced against the All Blacks.