'Thank you, South Africa' - Springboks
10 October 2011
"Thank you. I have never felt more humbled in my life. South Africa is the greatest country in the world," coach Peter de Villiers told the thousands of supporters at OR Tambo International Airport - and the country as a whole - on the Springboks' return from the Rugby World Cup on Monday.
Fans living in Johannesburg and surrounds responded enthusiastically to the call by Brand South Africa and Lead SA, gathering in their thousands at OR Tambo International on Monday afternoon to welcome their team back from New Zealand.
"The players ... broke their bones for South Africa," De Villiers told the thousands of green-and-gold clad people that crowded the airport's arrivals hall, many bearing placards reading "Welcome home Boks" and "Our blood's still green".
Captain John Smit said the fact that South Africans had turned out in such numbers to welcome the team after their quarterfinal exit from the tournament only made the pain worse - even as it showed how much people loved their team.
Deputy Sport Minister Gert Oosthuizen, also speaking at the briefing, described the Springboks' World Cup exit - after a game they dominated yet ended up losing 11-9 to Australia - as "heartbreaking and extremely painful, after we won everything in the final match except on the scoreboard.
"Welcome home Springboks, you fought so hard to retain the cup and you are really national heroes," Oosthuizen said.
Giant lock Victor Matfield, who like Smit had already signalled his retirement from international rugby after the World Cup, was among the senior players who returned on Monday's flight, with the others due to return home over the next two days.
"There are no regrets, we did everything we could," Matfield said. "There's no thoughts of, 'If we had done that little thing differently we could have won the World Cup'. We never gave up."
SAinfo reporter
