Rugby World Cup 2015: Springboks taking to London streets for support

Name: All Blacks: Springboks 'want to rip our heads off'
Uploaded: 2015-10-23T02:03:08+13:00
Duration: 133 s
Description: Heyneke Meyer's lavish praise heaped on the All Blacks this week has been described as mind games by his opposite Steve Hansen, who has told his team to take no notice. Springboks coach Meyer has called the All Blacks the best team to ever play the game, adding his players would have to play the match of their lives if they were to be successful in Sunday's World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.

NZ Herald

23 Oct, 2015 01:35 AM2 mins to read

Heyneke Meyer's lavish praise heaped on the All Blacks this week has been described as mind games by his opposite Steve Hansen, who has told his team to take no notice. Springboks coach Meyer has called the All Blacks the best team to ever play the game, adding his players would have to play the match of their lives if they were to be successful in Sunday's World Cup semifinal at Twickenham.

The Springboks are literally taking to London's streets to try and win the hearts and minds of neutral supporters at Twickenham and inspire their own players ahead of their World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks.

The 1995 World Cup-winning team have invited Londoners to join them on a two-mile Saturday morning jog, just hours before the semi which will be played early Sunday morning NZ time.

The stunt is a recreation from 20 years ago when the then captain Francois Pienaar took his players out in public on the morning of the tournament final where the All Blacks were heavy favourites to win.

It is the same scenario for this weekend's semi-final with the match-up at Twickenham a repeat of the final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. That seems to have inspired the South Africans to pull an old trick out of the bag.

The Guardian newspaper has described the move as "an attempt to recreate the feelgood factor which surrounded the famous victory, the 1995 captain Francois Pienaar and the rest of his team-mates".

"On the morning of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final, they famously ran in Sandton. Twenty years later, the world champion Springboks are running again ... through the streets of London," read a statement from South African Rugby, saying Pienaar will lead the jog through the streets of central London.

Talk about a jog down memory lane - or is it back to the future? #RWC @WorldRugby @SARugbyLegends @bokmuseum pic.twitter.com/928W1AiF3M
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 22, 2015

"All are welcome to join the 1995 Springboks squad and jog for two miles from Trafalgar Square and back. Meet outside the National Gallery at 07h30 on Saturday 24 October, 2015."

The South Africans are also hoping the stunt might win over some neutral supporters attending the semi.

After upsetting the odds by beating the All Blacks, Pienaar was handed the 1995 World Cup trophy by South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela. The story was later turned into a Hollywood movie titled Invictus featuring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.