Sunday, 28th October 2007 at 10:59 am

Springboks take to the road

The reception they received at OR Tambo confirmed what everyone suspected: the returning Springboks were set for a countrywide welcome the likes of which no sports team has every received before in South Africa; even the Bulls didn’t elicit quite the same hysteria when they got back from Durban earlier in the year with the Vodacom Super 14 trophy in tow.

And from a packed airport - highlighted by police and security staff tasked with controlling the crowds, instead jostling with each other to get photos of the rugby heroes - the wave of celebration has unfurled across the country, as the open-topped bus tour of South Africa gets underway. From a rainy Pretoria to ecstatic Soweto, the response has been the same: delirious South Africans celebrating a team that did for national unity in 80 minutes which few others could manage in a year.

The celebrations will continue until Monday, culminating in Cape Town, and a trophy presentation at Newlands; then, officially, the players will get a break, before gearing up for the end of season tour, and what could prove to be Jake White’s last hurrah as coach. A number of players could also be embarking upon their final Springbok assignments, and you sense an urgency amongst the victorious squad to cherish every moment of the World Cup celebration.

It’s added a certain intensity to the team’s return, and while in the long term that might not be a great sign for South African rugby, for now it’s sent an ecstatic nation into even greater delight. Cape Town on Monday’s your last chance; Feverpitcher would highly recommend you do your level best to be there. It might be a while before a sports team lights up the nation in quite the same way.