Cape Town — Who can ever forget Ricky Januarie’s epic try against the All Blacks in 2008 to set up a famous Springbok victory at the ‘House of Pain’, Carisbrook in Dunedin?
Well, the Bok coach at the time, Peter de Villiers, recalled the memorable moment on Thursday as he wished Januarie happy 41st birthday, which he celebrated on Wednesday.
The Bok scrumhalf dummied to the left from a ruck five metres inside the New Zealand half in the 75th minute, and then sped into a gap between Neemia Tialata and Keven Mealamu before chipping over Leon MacDonald.
Januarie got the perfect bounce and caught the ball to dive over and level the scores at 28-28. Frans Steyn booted the conversion over, and the Boks closed out a memorable 30-28 triumph over Graham Henry’s All Blacks — their first win over the Kiwis in New Zealand since 1998.
Almost equally memorable was De Villiers’ celebration as he banged on the desk in the coaches’ box and held his head in disbelief.
“GOOSEBUMPS IN DUNEDIN… It was Ricky Januarie’s birthday yesterday and I saw ‘THAT TRY’ doing the rounds on Facebook. We’ve all watched it 1000 times but have you ever seen inside the changing room after that match????
Well step inside...” read De Villiers’ caption as he posted a video of the post-match reaction in the change-room.
The Bok boss hugged each player — with Januarie last in the circle — before addressing the team.
“There were a lot of heroes, people who we all looked up to. People who got us to where we are today — but nothing as big as this. And the reason for that is because you made it work today,” he said.
“That same belief that you guys have in yourself and your Maker and your teammates … the only belief that will take us from now through to where we can be and where we want to be.
“We can be great, Victor (Matfield, who led the Boks that day), we can be great — the only captain to win the Super 14, and you came here and showed them how to do it.
“Guys, this is huge. This is really huge. But don’t forget to stay humble. Keep our feet on the ground. And as we felt last week — you know how it feels — we changed it and turned it around. Come we go big, because you earned it, to celebrate.
“I am telling you again what I said last week: I’m privileged and very proud to be part of you guys. And we now should and must stick together, because don’t lay the foundation, and then never have the money to fill your house.
“We’ve laid the foundation now, and come, let’s build it from there. Thanks again — thank you very, very much … that was great, hey.”
And they achieved their greatness in 2009 as they beat the British & Irish Lions, won the Tri-Nations, beat the All Blacks on three occasions and became the No 1-ranked team in the world …
Teams In Dunedin
Springboks: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie; 8 Joe van Niekerk, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield (capt), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp. Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.
All Blacks: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Rudi Wulf, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Andy Ellis; 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Rodney So’oialo (capt) 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 John Afoa, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Kevin O’Neill, 19 Sione Lauaki, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Leon MacDonald.
Points-Scorers
Springboks 30 – Tries: JP Pietersen, Ricky Januarie. Conversion: Francois Steyn (1). Penalties: Percy Montgomery (3), Butch James (2). Drop goal: James (1).
All Blacks 28 – Try: Sione Lauaki. Conversion: Dan Carter (1). Penalties: Carter (6). Drop goal: Carter (1).
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