When Springbok coach Jake White informed his squad who the team for the Rugby World Cup 2007 final would be, he did not just read out the names but also said something special about each player and why he was chosen. They were simple but powerful messages: "John Smit, the most capped captain in Bok history", and "Percy Montgomery, most capped player in Bok history and leading all-time points’ scorer". White did this for each man and then asked the players to look at the guys around them and appreciate what a special and exceptional group they were. And what a squad it was. At the time, the 668 caps they collectively had going into the final was the most in Springbok rugby history. Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, centres Jaque Fourie and Frans Steyn, locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, prop Os du Randt, hooker Smit, flanks Juan Smith and Schalk Burger and wings Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen would have made a world XV squad at the time. At the Stade de France in Paris’s working class ...
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