South Africa’s Springboks beat France 29-28 to qualify for the Semi-Finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in an epic clash in Paris yesterday.

South Africa are defending champions, having won the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

France are ranked number 2 in the world, while South Africa are ranked number 3, whilst Ireland is ranked number 1 in the world.

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi declared in the early hours of Monday morning that they knew it would take something special to beat France in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Sunday, and both him and Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber lauded the team’s character to pull through the victory to book their place in the semi-final.

Both the South African Rugby Union (also known as SA Rugby) and the actual game of rugby have been at the forefront of change on the South African sports scene over the past ten years, and management structures and strategies in SA Rugby have continuously evolved to keep up with changes and challenges on the South African playing field.

The union believes that continual growth is vital to the future of the sport in South Africa.

For rugby to be a national sport it must appeal to and be played or watched by a significant percentage of the South African population.

SA Rugby has formulated a growth strategy that covers both participants and supporters, and a number of activities are already underway to meet these objectives.

Zwnews