South Africans to put economic woes aside and honour Springboks

JOHANNESBURG: South Africans will put their economic woes to one side this week to come together and celebrate the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup triumph in Japan with a series of parades around the country.

The triumphant team arrives on a series of flights during Tuesday and Wednesday with captain Siya Kolisi and coach Rassie Erasmus expected to be among the first to land.From Thursday to Monday, open-top bus tours will take the country’s sporting heroes through Johannesburg, Pretoria, Soweto, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

Thousands are expected to line streets in each city and honour the Springboks, who rewrote the history books by winning the four-yearly global competition a record-equalling third time.They became the first team to lift the World Cup despite a loss — 23-13 to New Zealand in the pool phase—and the first to win the Rugby Championship and the World Cup in the same year.