Boks and Banyana looking to get a rub of Madiba Magic

THE Springboks, Junior Boks and Banyana Banyana will be keen to get to rub of Madiba Magic as they fly the South African flag in their respective international matches today.

- MIKE GREENAWAY AND ROWAN CALLAGHAN

The four-time world champions play Georgia in Mbombela this evening in circumstances that could not contrast more with the last time the Eastern Europeans visited South Africa.

That was in 2021, and the teams were imprisoned in their hotel rooms as the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world. The Georgian coach, Levan Maisashvili, was in hospital in Pretoria when the game kicked off at Loftus Versfeld, and he was still there four weeks after the team went home. He was on life support at one point, but eventually recovered. Georgians are tough, as Bok coach Rassie Erasmus testified this week. He is talking about the country that bred Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

"A major sport in Georgia is wrestling. Kids learn to wrestle first," Erasmus said. "This is a part of the world where the men are big and tough. That is why rugby has caught on in their country."

"I don’t think you get bigger people than Georgians. That's why the French teams are signing so many of them."