Springboks victory parade could reach excluded provinces

The Springboks victory parade could still make its way to provinces not included in the original trophy tour, the SABC reports.

The world champions are currently on a nationwide tour, which sees them show off the Webb-Ellis trophy in four provinces in the space of five days.

Springbok trophy tour could be expanded 

According to the public broadcaster, SA Rugby is looking into bringing the trophy, along with a few Boks to the five provinces excluded from the initial itinerary.

The team began their tour in Gauteng, where they made stops in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto, before jetting off to Durban for the first of four coastal detours.

They are in East London on Saturday, and will be in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town on Sunday and Monday respectively.

Not included in the tour is the Free State, North West, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape.

Dissatisfaction over excluded provinces 

Northern Cape premier Zamani Saul, who spoke to the SABC, was not pleased with the exclusion.

“It can’t be that when there are such critical events happening in this country we get excluded, that is the struggle which this generation of ours we should wage, and when we wage that struggle we should wage it forcefully without fear or favour to make everyone in South Africa to appreciate the fact that Northern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. And in the Northern Cape we’ve got people here who also aspire to be part and parcel of the new dawn which is articulated by the president.”

Zamani Saul

The latest trophy tour is a lot broader, compared to one the Springboks embarked on following their 2007 Rugby World Cup triumph.

Cities such as Durban and Port Elizabeth were excluded, with the parade only taking place in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

During their stop in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala thanked the Springboks for pulling through.

“In particular we appreciate and thank the Springboks from the coach, the captain and all the players for the job well done, let’s give them a big round of applause. We must thank the people of eThekwini who came out in numbers to join us today and make this a big success.”

Sihle Zikalala

The Springboks victory parade is currently in East London. For the live stream, click here.