A president rejoiced, his people - all 43 million of them - followed suite and Joel Stransky's emotions understandably knew no limits. Stransky is no giant, weighing only 80 kilograms and standing at 1.80m. Yet the blow his right boot struck for a nation has no equal.

Folklore has it that Springbok rugby teams perform best when boosted by the presence of a Jewish player, and if anything, Stransky's achievement reaffirms this legacy - one based largely on the past achievements of Springboks Cecil Moss, Ockey Geffin and Wilf Rosenberg, to name but a few.

"In the last 20 minutes of the match, I kept on asking Joel when he was going to drop for goal. 'Give me some time' was his response each time. Then, with seven minutes to go and with us attacking, we got the scrum feed 30 meters out. Our Captain Francois Piennar called a move, and seconds later, Joel screamed for the ball. 'Just throw it deep and I'll hit it' he said. For the first time in my career I overruled the captain's decision and sent the ball to Joel. I just knew that when he asked for it, it was going over."