Editor’s Note

The last time we won a World Cup Rugby tournament was in France 2007, but that’s not the one I remember in minute detail. Like many other South Africans, the one that stands out in my memory as if it was yesterday is our historic, iconic win of 1995.

It was tight.

Joel Stransky took advantage of a last-second opportunity to hoof a drop kick over the uprights in the final against New Zealand and before we’d had a moment to calm down Nelson Mandela was wearing a Springbok jersey and hoisting the cup into the air alongside Springbok captain Francois Pienaar.

Hell, we needed that win. Feels like we need another one now.

I watched that game. It built up into a crescendo that could not have been more exciting and in the last 10 minutes every patron in the packed restaurant I was in had grabbed a large tin of Italian tomatoes from the shelves and was beating a frenzied rhythm on it with the cutlery.

By the time that winning drop kick was scored we were each cradling our tin under an arm like members of a syncopated percussion orchestra, beating it with a spoon and

dancing on the tables.

Outside on the streets a party was in full swing. If that euphoric crowd was anything to judge by, SA was the most united, diverse, inclusive and ecstatic country in the world. If only we could bottle that feeling, dry it out, turn it into dust and sprinkle it over

Joburg’s city centre.

It’s that same euphoria I’m after when I get invested in watching our national rugby team play in international competitions – but it’s like chasing the dragon. There will never be a moment quite as special as that night in 1995. It’s a moment lost in time, and there have been many disappointments since. And yet, a win in Japan would have its own delicious flavour.

Almost as exciting as the prospect of ripped rugby superheroes fighting it out like Titans on the pitch is the followup to Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale. While The Testaments has been shrouded in secrecy and embargoes we managed to get someone at Atwood’s first press conference about the book. Let’s hope it lives up to her fans expectations.

It’s a small issue this week, but packed with good stuff.