THERE SEEMS TO be a running theme with celebrations at the final whistle upsetting people at this World Cup.
We had Rieko Ioane annoying Johnny Sexton after New Zealand’s quarter-final win over Ireland when the Kiwi centre cupped his ear towards Irish fans and put his finger to his lips to tell them to quieten down.
Then, after last weekend’s semi-final between South Africa and England, Springboks fullback Willie le Roux raced forward to celebrate wildly in front of some of the crestfallen English players.
Scrum-half Danny Care took issue and gave le Roux a shove, sparking a bout of handbags after the final whistle had been sounded, with England captain Owen Farrell tangling with le Roux.
“It was just emotion,” said le Roux today when he was asked about the incident.
“I think I had the same emotion as everyone back home. I was excited. The margins in those big games are so small. I just jumped up out of emotion, of happiness as we’d just got through a World Cup semi-final.
“There was no disrespect to any of the English players. I think they thought there was and I immediately told them there wasn’t and then it stopped. There was nothing, nothing about that.”
Farrell played it down immediately post-match as a “misunderstanding,” so the English players were also seemingly keen to move on.
Le Roux has his hands full this week with preparations for the World Cup final against New Zealand.
It remains to be seen exactly what role the 34-year-old will play this time, having come off the bench in the Boks’ quarter-final and semi-final.
Le Roux is excited to face up to the All Blacks, a familiar foe.
“There’s always respect,” said le Roux. “The rivalry goes back a long time. The games that have been played against each other, it’s always hard-fought and after the game you can see the guys, they gave it their all.
“It’s just a hard battle out there, there are no friends when you are on the field.
“I don’t think you can ever write the All Blacks off. It’s no surprise at all for them to be in the final.”
Le Roux was only six when these two sides met in the 1995 World Cup final, their only previous meeting in the decider, and he remembers his parents screaming as they watched the game.
He didn’t quite understand what was going on back then, but now le Roux appreciates how much excitement and passion the Springboks generate.
“The emotion for the last two weeks was pretty high,” said le Roux.
“My friends and everyone sends me messages after the games and their heart rate is 200 [bpm]. So, the emotion is very high all over the world, and for us as well.
“But when we step off the field, when you go to bed that night, and when you wake up the next morning, it’s the next job, you start all over, it’s a new process. The high has gone now.”
Le Roux and the Boks are chasing the ultimate high this weekend.