The Glory of ‘95: The Springboks were on top of the world 25 years ago
Final: 24 June 1995: South Africa 15 New Zealand 12 (Ellis Park)
Before the 1995 Rugby World Cup began, Springbok coach Kitch Christie was quoted as saying: “The World Cup will be won by penalties and drop-goals resulting from (the) solid performance of the basics set pieces, defence and fitness.”
In a nutshell, that is how the Boks won the tightest of finals against the All Blacks. They focused heavily on doing the right things at the right time. The All Blacks had been a try machine until the final only to run into ferocious, committed defence, and for the first time they did not get their own way in the scrums and lineouts. Let’s face it, there was also an element of fortune that favoured the Boks in that an Andrew Mehrtens’ drop-goal attempt almost won it for his team just short of fulltime.
Points Scorers
South Africa Penalties: Joel Stransky (3). Drop-goals: Stransky (2)
New Zealand Penalties: Andrew Mehrtens (3). Drop-goal Mehrtens
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