By Edwin Naidu and David Llewellyn
The Springboks jetted off to the Rugby World Cup in Australia on Saturday as a team written off in many quarters, but still confident they can take on all comers in what promises to be the greatest showcase of the sport in history.
The quadrennial tournament is expected to attract more than four billion viewers from 210 or more countries, up from the three billion in 209 countries who watched the 1999 World Cup staged in England and France.
With Australian enthusiasm for the event building to a crescendo similar to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and strong ticket sales in other rugby-loving nations, up to two million fans are expected to pass through the turnstiles for the eight-week event that starts this week, up from 1,6 million in 1999.
Already more than one million tickets have been sold, including, incredibly, 16 000 for the Pool C match between Uruguay and Georgia in Sydney.
Pool C is South Africa's group, and the biggest date in South African rugby since the momentous, losing semifinal against Australia in 1999 looms. On October 18, South Africa will play England in Perth, the home to tens of thousands of South African immigrants.
The prospects are clear and potentially disastrous. Lose to England and South Africa will come second in their group, with the outcome likely to be a quarterfinal against the mighty All Blacks, and a win there seeing the Boks taking on hosts Australia in the semis. The high road is a win against England, resulting in a likely quarterfinal against struggling Wales, and a semifinal against France - ever unpredictable, but preferable to the ferocity and skill of the All Blacks.
On Saturday Springbok coach Rudolph Straeuli was eager to leave behind a race row and a spate of injuries to top players: "I've got no concerns, I just want to get there as quickly as possible," he said.
Captain Corne Krige was raring to go: "It's huge for me, especially after missing out on the World Cup in 1999 through injury. I'm very, very happy. And taking a young side over that no one rates makes it even more exciting. We've got nothing to lose. We're going to go out there and live a dream and just play, and enjoy ourselves and express ourselves. I'm looking forward to that, to enjoying ourselves over there."
South African radio and television audiences will not have to get up in the small hours of the morning for live coverage. Matches will be broadcast live and kick-off times vary from 6.30am to 2pm. Two of the afternoon kick-offs involve the Springboks against Uruguay and England.
M-Net's Supersport will screen all 48 World Cup games, while SABC2 will screen half the line-up, while e.tv, which lost out on the screening rights, will focus on results in its news bulletins, including crossings to Independent Newspapers rugby reporters Kevin McCallum and Mike Greenway in Australia.
SABC television news will be sending two reporters to cover the games in addition to using footage from the games it won the rights to show, said Jimi Matthews, the head of news.
"There will be saturation coverage and we'd have the advantage of using material SABC Sports won the right to screen," he said.
Gert Roets, SuperSport's sports editor, said the channel would show every game at the World Cup, as well as magazine programmes and chat shows, making up more than 70 hours of live action. "Nowhere in the world will there be greater World Cup coverage than in South Africa," he said.
Live scoring during every match and up-to-the-minute results will also be available on channel 20 on DStv, the SuperSport Zone channel.
Commentary in English and Afrikaans will be available for South Africa's matches, with live broadcasts anchored by Hugh Bladen, Joel Stransky and Kobus Wiese, who will be joined by former All Black Zinzan Brooke, former Wallaby Jason Little and possibly a famous former British Lions player. They will also produce an additional weekly programme, Down Under, with Stransky as anchor.
Naas Botha, former Springbok coach Ian McIntosh, Chester Williams and Jake White are among the experts who will do duty as studio guests.
"During non-Springbok matches viewers will be able to listen to international commentators such as Keith Quinn, Gordon Bray and Greg Clarke. We also have access to all material televised by other TV stations," Roets said.
"Before the match between South Africa and England - kick-off 2pm on October 18 - there will be an hour-long build-up televised live from the South African Rugby Football Union's Bok Town in a Perth shopping centre."
All the key South African matches will also feature on SABC2 and on 11 SABC radio stations.
"It is a huge coup for fans of the game, who have been denied this tournament since 1995 when the Boks beat the All Blacks in that memorable Cup final at Ellis Park," said the SABC.
94.7 Highveld Stereo personality Jeremy Mansfield and his 702 Talk Radio colleague John Robbie will also be covering the tournament.
The schedule is as follows:
- October 10: Australia vs Argentina in Sydney, 12pm, SuperSport 1 and SABC2.
- October 11: South Africa vs Uruguay in Perth, 2pm, SuperSport 1 and SABC2.
- October 18: South Africa vs England in Perth, 2pm, SuperSport 1 and SABC2.
- October 24: South Africa vs Georgia in Sydney, 12pm, SuperSport 1 and SABC2.
- November 1: South Africa vs Samoa in Brisbane, 9.30am, SuperSport 1 and SABC2.
- November 8 and 9: Quarterfinals. 9.30am and 12pm with all matches shown on SuperSport 1 and 2 on SABC2.
- November 15 and 16: Semifinals. SuperSport will screen both games and SABC2.
- November 20: Third and fourth play-offs.
- November 22: Final at 11am.