MARK ANDREWS: “Sport has the incredible capacity to unite a nation if the politicians get behind the tournament and the team. As a nation, we need some good news and something to strive and work for. The Rugby World Cup can do this.
On a rugby front I think getting the World Cup will force our SA administrators to pull together and put our Boks first, which is what we need.
Financially, as a country, we need foreign investment and job creation. So the World Cup will be a godsend for SA and change the sentiment in SA.
I was fortunate enough to be part of the 95 RWC and experienced the positivity of all South Africans and the passion that emerged from that period.
As a nation, we have the best stadiums in the world, brilliant infrastructure, hotels, supporters and we are an affordable nation to visit.
Without a doubt, the rugby world needs the World Cup in SA just as much as South Africa needs the World Cup.
Can there be a better reason why the RWC should be in SA in 2023?”
NAKA DROTSKE: “The RWC in 1995 was unexpected because we were isolated literally three years before that and everything happened very quickly. Nobody knew about a World Cup. No South African player had even played in a World Cup and then, all of a sudden, we got it, and the rest is history.
Everyone was reunited, and that was awesome. I think it is our turn to have another one. I don’t think anyone expected to wait 28 years for another one.
The way we hosted it in 1995, in terms of the financial point of view and everything else, it was quite amazing, and I think we have proved we can probably do a better job than anyone else in the world.
A World Cup definitely has the power. 1995 was even more volatile with apartheid just ending, and the way the country reunited, so I think sport has proved that it is much more powerful than politics or anything else when it comes to reuniting the people of a country.
We need something like the World Cup to get people behind one team.
I can’t see how we can’t get it. Everything is in our favour, and we are well overdue. We should have had it four years ago, in my opinion.
You don’t want to celebrate too early - stranger things have happened in the past. We have seen that with the Commonwealth Games bid. There’s a lot of politics and hidden agendas with big tournaments like this, but my opinion is that I can’t see us not getting it.”
JOEL STRANSKY: “I know the process, and it is not a ‘go’ yet. It is a recommendation by the consultants that do the audits, and now there will be a vote by the 39 council members. It is a little too early to get excited. When the money is in the bank, that’s when you should only really get excited, when it’s a signed contract and a decision is made.
But it is certainly a step in the right direction. I know our bid was strong, and there was a lot of great value in the bid, and some compelling stories, so I am not surprised and I’m hoping that the recommendation weighs on the shoulders of those who have to vote in a couple of weeks’ time, and that they make a good decision.
Whenever a vote is involved, there is a political-type situation and I think there will definitely be some canvassing and entertaining and convincing to get votes for some of the other contenders.
But I do think that, in terms of logic, when a consulting firm is independent and gets paid to make a recommendation, then that recommendation should carry a lot of weight. Let’s hope it does.
The thing that is concerning, though, is that whether we like it or not, there is a vote, and when there is a vote there is doubt. In rugby there is still a bit of an old boys’ club that governs and manages the game, and that old boys’ club could swing some of those votes.
We need to be cautious, but I have been hugely positive all along and this is encouraging news.
As a caveat, though, in 1995 we had a great leader - Nelson Mandela - and the success of a sporting event - a sports team uniting a nation and bringing together everyone under the rainbow flag - was driven by leadership and not the sports event.
The event was a consequence of the leadership. It is no good us sitting here thinking this will bring us together as a nation and bring job opportunities and revenue and that it will be a great World Cup.
What we need is strong leadership at all levels that can drive those processes. The important fact is we need leadership that can achieve the results we achieved in 1995.
Right now, I think rugby has strong leadership in (Saru) president Mark Alexander, and he has done a good job in tough circumstances, (and) Jurrie Roux as well.
But from a national perspective, if we are to unite a nation around a sporting event, we need to fight off some of the demons we’re fighting at the moment and put in a leadership that is capable of bringing us all together around a
sports team.