The Lions-tamers of ’09 battle the reigning world champions to be crowned the greatest Bok team of all time.
The 2009 Boks powered past Nick Mallett’s 1997/98 juggernauts in this poll series before bulldozing three World Cup-winning sides in the 1995, 2007 and 2019 teams. But they face their most difficult task yet in battling the team that made South Africa four-time World Champions – the 2023 Boks.
Despite being the defending champions going into the 2023 World Cup in France, the Boks weren’t the favourites, with the bookies backing the hosts and All Blacks, but it mattered little to Jacques Nienaber and his charges.
Like the introduction of the infamous ‘Bomb Squad’ during the 2019 World Cup, the Boks had another trick up their sleeve ahead of the tournament in France, deploying a 7-1 split on the bench during their warmup game against the All Blacks, only to pull it out the bag in the final again.
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But there was more to the 7-1 split than physically annihilating opponents, it also showcased the raw versatility within the Boks’ ranks, from turning flanker Marco van Staden into a makeshift hooker to moving Damian Willemse across the backline.
The Boks opened the tournament with a handsome win over Scotland before they demolished Romania, narrowly lost to Ireland, and thumped Tonga to book a quarter-final against France.
In what was arguably their toughest knockout route in history, the Boks famously pulled off three one-point wins, beating France 29-28 in a game for the ages, sneaking past a resilient England 16-15 in the semi-final, and slaying the mighty All Blacks 12-11 in the final that secured South Africa’s fourth World Cup and reinstated them as the number one team in the world.
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Retaining most of the players that had won the World Cup two years prior in France, the 2009 Bok side signalled South Africa’s return to the top of rugby.
Seasoned players like John Smit, Victor Matfield, and Bakkies Botha featured in a formidable forward pack, while the blistering pace of Bryan Habana and the deadly centre combination of Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie wreaked havoc in the midfield.
The victory over the 2009 British & Irish Lions may be what this Bok side is best remembered for, but arguably more impressive was their 3-0 whitewash of the All Blacks, a first for the Boks that culminated in the Boks lifting the Tri-Nations trophy.
