“There can be no more thrilling experience for the Springbok rugby player than to oppose Wales in an international. It is more than just a grimly fought game. It is a searching trial of emotion, nerves and physical courage.”
So said legendary South African captain from the 1930s, Bennie Osler.
The words appeared in the matchday programme for the Springboks v Wales game in Pretoria in 1998. They didn’t age well. By full time this writer recalls rising from his seat and making his way out of the press box at Loftus Versfeld, en route spotting one of the aforementioned programmes turned to the page that carried Osler’s words. South Africa had just beaten Wales 96-13. How far had Welsh rugby fallen? The mockery around the ground that evening answered that question.
