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JOHANNESBURG - After a spell in the doghouse with fans and politicians alike, the Springboks have won over sports-mad South Africans who see their march to the rugby World Cup final as unstoppable.
With Sunday's semi-final against Argentina widely seen as little more than a minor obstacle to a date with the hosts, travel agents, airlines and the French consulate are being inundated by supporters who want to get to Paris.
Even in the ruling ANC, which recently voted to rename the Springboks as a symbolic break from the apartheid era, the powers-that-be have exchanged their brickbats for plaudits with the country's deputy president due to rally the team on the eve of the Argentina match.
A poll for SuperSport television found 94 per cent of South Africans believe the Springboks will get to this year's final, with 77 per cent predicting France will be their opponents on October 21.
That run in stark contrast to the dejected mood of four years ago when the South Africans crashed out lamely in the World Cup quarter-finals to New Zealand.
Former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck, now a pundit for Rugby365.com, is tipping the Boks to go all the way.
"The 2007 Rugby World Cup is there for the Boks' taking - the only way we won't win it is if they actually throw it away like the Wallabies or the All Blacks did on Saturday," he said.
Fleck was confident that Argentina, who beat France in the opening match of the tournament, would not pull off another shock on Sunday.
"South Africa will have too much on the day for Argentina, a team they have never lost to, and win by three to seven points."
Thousands of South African supporters are flying over for the semi-finals and finals, spending up to 65,000 rand (9,500 US dollars/6,700 euros) on packages that include flights, accommodation and match tickets.
John Viede, of Johannesburg-based travel agents Makro Sport Travel, said his company was being inundated with calls but was having to turn customers away.
"All our packages were sold out about five-six weeks ago," said Viede, whose firm will have taken around a thousand supporters to France by the tournament's end.
"Now the Boks are on a roll, the affluent rugby supporter wants to go but sadly they can't because unfortunately there's nothing available. The flights are chocker, the hotels are chocker."
South African Airways has put plans to reduce the number of flights to Paris on hold until the end of the month in order to meet demand.
"There has been an increase in the number of people wishing to fly to Paris in recent days, and SAA is confident that we will be able to accommodate our passengers," said spokeswoman Robyn Chalmers.
The demand is also taking its toll on the French consulate which is vowing to "do its best" to ensure all visa applications are processed in time.
"The increasing numbers of group applications introduced at the last moment, particularly through local agencies, are, however, putting pressure on the technically-limited processing capacities," it said.
Those in Paris will include Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who, according to her office, would "visit and offer moral support to the Springboks" in person on Saturday.
Her show of support is in contrast to the usual spats between the rugby authorities and government which has been angered by a dearth of black players.
Some of the pressure has been eased by the performance of Bryan Habana, a fleet-footed coloured winger who is the team's new poster boy.
Government spokesman Themba Maseko said the Springboks' progress had been keenly debated at Thursday's cabinet meeting.
"Cabinet welcomes the progress the Springboks are making in their march to capture the IRB rugby World Cup," he said.
South Africa's only World Cup title triumph to date came on home turf in 1995 when Nelson Mandela famously donned a Springboks shirt as he presented the Webb Ellis trophy to victorious skipper Francois Pienaar.
- AFP
