South Africa eyes 2023 prize as bitter battle ends
The fog of war that has afflicted the race to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup will lift on Wednesday and is expected to reveal South Africa as outright victor to stage the quadrennial showpiece.
Two weeks ago the Rugby World Cup board released a report placing South Africa first across a range of criteria on which the candidates were assessed, ranging from stadiums to financial assurances
France, second, and Ireland, third, came out swinging in response to the report and have been as combative as their players on the pitch, slamming the findings that placed South Africa in the driving seat.
Had they been on the field of play -- where rugby players distinguish themselves from footballers for their polite acceptance of the referee's decision -- the Irish and French would have earned at least a sin-binning.
World Rugby replied with clarifications but it is now up to the 39 votes on its Council to decide whether they accept the unanimous decision of the Rugby World Cup board to award South Africa the hosting rights for the second time.
South Africa hosted the iconic 1995 edition -- which saw the first black president of the country, Nelson Mandela, adorned in a Springbok jersey, then seen as one of the pillars of white apartheid rule -- handing the trophy to white South Africa captain Francois Pienaar.
South Africa vice-president Cyril Ramaphosa, one of the architects of the relatively peaceful transition from apartheid, said a 2023 World Cup in the country would serve as affirmation of much of what the late Mandela stood for.
"In 1995 it was an almost-white team," said Ramaphosa when he added his sizeable political weight to the final presentation in September.
"In 2023 it will be a diverse rugby team and prove to the world what Nelson Mandela said, that rugby is a great unifier.
"It will be played out in reality that a country coming from a sad past, we will have achieved Nelson Mandela's dream of a true rainbow nation."