Author: Kevin McCallum
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Here’s to the game that made me believe, once again, in hope and heroes
When the view from your garden is of the H-shaped posts that beckon the bouncing ball, you begin to see just how rugby can shape a nation, and turn its dreams into cause for reflection and celebration
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How the Boks cope with the nerve-wracking weirdness of final week
As the seconds tick by to the kick-off of the big game in rugby’s ultimate contest, with the trophy tantalisingly within grasp, being a Bok means training, planning, and a quiet quest for distraction
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Why the best rugby is played in the eye of a storm
With the Rugby World Cup taking a breather as a typhoon swept in, the time was right for a reflection on the way the game thrives when the winds of change are raging all around it
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A victory for the underdogs in the city of the terrible tsunami
It was a match marked by heroism, played in a city famed for its heroic response to a natural disaster. What can Uruguay vs Fiji teach us about the power of the human spirit?
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The veteran Bok who could hold the key to victory in Yokohama
When the Boks go into battle against the All Blacks in their opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, all eyes will be on a rugged warrior who runs fast and plays hard in the early autumn of his career
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When the Holy Grail becomes the poisoned chalice
I’ve seen Springbok coaches smile. I’ve seen them wince, scowl, face palm, snarl, scream and shout, but I have also seen them happy.
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Why the Rugby World Cup Always Ends in Tears
Ten years ago, in the stands of the Stade de France, I watched tears well in the eyes of a friend, a journalist by trade but a South African by soul. The Springboks had just beaten England.
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The Day a Legendary Kiwi’s Grandson Cut My Hair
“My grandfather was stopped from being an All Black because of apartheid,” is not your usual barbershop banter.