A message to the Springboks as they get ready to head to New Zealand to defend the Rugby World Cup.

I thought it would be appropriate to give our boys a message of inspiration as they head off to the Rugby World Cup in an attempt to make history.

As I looked for words I could offer as inspiration in their quest to go and do something many believe impossible, I was reminded of something I heard about a year ago and I realised that no words I could possibly come up with compares to this.

The following is a speech by John Doman which formed part of an AFM Banquet video clip.

I don’t think it needs any explanation, so just read this, and listen to the audio file to hear Doman say this in his own voice.

Feel free to leave your own messages for the boys, and we will get it to them where many of them prepare to make one last stand…

Enjoy!

Here’s the thing that makes life so interesting…

The theory of evolution claims only the strong shall survive.  Maybe so, maybe so…

But the theory of competition says; ‘Just because they’re strong doesn’t mean they can’t get their asses kicked!’

Thats right!

What every long-shot come-from-behind underdog will tell you is this:

“The other guy may in fact be the favourite.  The odds may be stacked against me. Fair enough! But what the odds don’t know is that this isn’t a math test.  This is a completely different kind of test.  One where PASSION, has a funny way of trumping logic. So before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows and the clock starts ticking, just remember out there, the results don’t always add up.

“No matter what the stats may say, and the experts may think, and the commentators may have predicted – when the race is on, all bets are off!

“Don’t be surprised if somebody decides to flip the script! Because then, as the old saying goes; ‘We got ourselves a game’!”

Whether or not you win this thing, you have got to decide how you are going to walk out of there when it’s all set and done – because the game is going to go on.

And there’s only one rule you are going to need to know about, there are no second chances…

There is only this moment, and the next moment.  Every one of those moments, is a test.  And you get to take one time, and only one time.  So if you see an opening, tear into it.  If you get a shot at victory you make damn sure you take it. Seize that moment!  That moment is a cross-roads where everything you want will collide with everything standing in your way!

You got momentum at your back, fear and doubt are thundering like a freight train straight at you!

And all you got – the only difference between making history and BEING history, the only thing, ONLY thing you can count on at any given moment, is YOU!

It’s you versus them!

You versus NO!

You versus CAN’T!

You versus NEXT YEAR!

LAST YEAR!

STATISTICS!

EXCUSES!

It is you versus HISTORY!

You, versus the odds.

It’s you versus second place…

The clock is ticking…

Let’s see what you got.

To listen to the audio file, CLICK HERE

And as far as New Zealand, the favourites go…

And if you are lucky enough to travel to New Zealand for the RWC, this guide is essential: