The Springboks' four Rugby World Cup wins: 1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023
South Africa have won the Rugby World Cup four times, more than any other country. They didn't play at the first two tournaments, in 1987 and 1991, because of the sporting boycott during apartheid. Since then they have won four of the eight they entered, and they have never lost a World Cup final.
Every title-winning squad is full of players you can guess in Bokdle, and many of them can be the mystery answer. Here's the story of each one.
1995: one team, one country
South Africa hosted the 1995 World Cup, their first, only a year after the country's first democratic election. Very few people gave the Springboks much chance against the All Blacks, Australia or France.
The team was coached by Kitch Christie and captained by flanker Francois Pienaar. They beat the defending champions Australia in the opening game in Cape Town, beat Western Samoa in a quarter-final where wing Chester Williams scored four tries, and edged France in a semi-final in Durban played on a waterlogged field.
The final, at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 24 June 1995, was against New Zealand and their giant wing Jonah Lomu. The Springbok defence held him, the score was 9–9 after 80 minutes, and in extra time fly-half Joel Stransky kicked a drop goal to win it 15–12. Stransky scored all 15 points.
The image everyone remembers came afterwards: Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey with Pienaar's number 6 on the back, handing the trophy to the captain. Pienaar said afterwards that the team had the support not of the 63,000 fans in the stadium, but of 43 million South Africans.
Players from 1995 you'll find in Bokdle include prop Os du Randt, scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen, wing James Small and centre Japie Mulder, a past answer.
2007: the Jake White years
Coach Jake White built his side over four years for the 2007 tournament in France, and it was the favourite going in. Hooker John Smit was captain.
South Africa topped their pool, including a 36–0 win over England. They then beat Fiji in the quarter-final and Argentina in the semi-final. Wing Bryan Habana scored 8 tries in the tournament, equalling the record for a single World Cup, and was named the IRB (now World Rugby) player of the year.
The final, at the Stade de France on 20 October 2007, was a rematch with England. It was a tight, try-less game, decided by goal kicking: Percy Montgomery kicked four penalties and a 20-year-old Frans Steyn added a long-range fifth, for a 15–6 win. England thought they had scored early in the second half, but Mark Cueto's try was ruled out after a long look by the video referee.
The 2007 squad was full of players who became Springbok greats: Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha at lock, Fourie du Preez at scrum-half, Schalk Burger and Juan Smith in the back row. Past Bokdle answers from that squad include Juan Smith, CJ van der Linde and Ricky Januarie.
Os du Randt won his second World Cup in 2007, twelve years after his first.
2019: Kolisi lifts the cup in Japan
When Rassie Erasmus took over as coach in 2018, the Springboks had dropped out of the world's top five. He made Siya Kolisi the first Black Test captain of South Africa, and within eighteen months the team was world champion.
The tournament in Japan began with a 23–13 loss to New Zealand. No team had ever won the World Cup after losing a pool game. South Africa won every game after that: Japan 26–3 in the quarter-final, Wales 19–16 in the semi-final.
The final, in Yokohama on 2 November 2019, was against England, who had beaten New Zealand in their semi-final. The Springbok scrum dominated, fly-half Handré Pollard kicked 22 points, and wings Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe scored the first Springbok tries in a World Cup final. South Africa won 32–12.
Number 8 Duane Vermeulen was player of the match, and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit was named World Rugby's player of the year. Frans Steyn, who had won in 2007 as a 20-year-old, won again twelve years later.
Many of the 2019 players are past Bokdle answers: Makazole Mapimpi, Vincent Koch, Cobus Reinach, Handré Pollard, RG Snyman, Damian Willemse, Steven Kitshoff and Jesse Kriel.
2023: three one-point wins
The 2023 World Cup in France was coached by Jacques Nienaber, with Erasmus as director of rugby, and Kolisi was captain again. South Africa lost a pool game again, 13–8 to Ireland, and then won three knockout games by a single point each:
- Quarter-final: 29–28 against the hosts France in Paris, one of the great World Cup matches
- Semi-final: 16–15 against England, after trailing for most of the game, with a late Pollard penalty
- Final: 12–11 against New Zealand, at the Stade de France on 28 October 2023
Pollard had joined the squad during the tournament as an injury replacement, and he kicked all 12 points in the final. Hooker Bongi Mbonambi went off injured early, so flanker Deon Fourie played most of the game at hooker. The Springboks held on in the last minutes, defending their own line, to become the first team to win four World Cups.
Kolisi became only the second captain to lift the trophy twice, after New Zealand's Richie McCaw. Nienaber picked a bench of seven forwards and one back for the final, a bold call the team had first tried in a big warm-up win over New Zealand at Twickenham that August.
Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and many others won their second title. Past answers from the 2023 squad include Canan Moodie, along with most of the 2019 players listed above.
What the World Cups mean in Bokdle
The result screen shows how many World Cups each player won. It counts everyone named in the winning squad, whether or not they played in the final. A few players have won two: Os du Randt (1995 and 2007), Frans Steyn (2007 and 2019), and a large group from 2019 and 2023.
If your Debut tile points at the early 1990s, the mid-2000s or the late 2010s, a World Cup winner is a good next guess.
For more about the players, read Rugby positions explained and Springbok caps and records.