As time went on, I worked out that opponents were going out of their way to get under my skin and I learnt to laugh it off – you’ll usually see a big grin on my face when pushing and showing breaks out. Having said that, I’ll always get upset if I see someone taking a liberty with a teammate.

Rassie homed in on the fact that black players liked to sing and dance before a game while white players preferred peace and quiet (in South African rugby, you don’t really get guys who scream, shout and headbutt walls). He’d noticed that some plates were irritated by the singing and dancing and realised that a compromise needed to be struck.

8: Completing Rugby

“There was a poignant moment after the game that left some of us close to tears. Before the tournament, someone had the idea of having photos of loved ones superimposed on each players’ number, and we were asked to send in six each. At the jersey presentation, some guys quickly realised that while most of us had photos of parents, siblings, children, close friends and mentors on our numbers, Mapimpi had six different photos of himself.

People thought that maybe he hadn’t understood what they wanted. And at the post-match fines meeting Francois Louw stood up and proposed that Mapimpi be convicted of fancying himself too much. It was classic rugby banter and done in a light-hearted way, but things were about to get a bit awkward. It’s always the case that the accused get to defend themselves, and when Mapimpi got to his feet and was asked, ‘How do you plead?’ he explained that he only had photos of himself because he didn’t have any family left. Nobody was laughing any more and Francois was mortified. He paid the fine himself, in the form of a downed beer, and couldn't stop apologising to Mapimpi. Talk about a sobering moment.

Besides, he had already weeded out any guys he thought could be a virus. He’d say, ‘The 31 guys in the squad aren’t necessarily the most talented but they’re the right guys for this team.’ He understood that sometimes you had a player who was arguably the best in his position in club rugby but also sulked, moaned about game plans and faculties, talked kak about people and infected the whole environment. Other coaches don't notice those players but Rassie spots them immediately and never considers picking them again.

It’s the nature of sport that sometimes you have a bad day, and there were obvious reasons for our under-par performance. But when Rassie took over we weren’t allowed to have excuses. It didn’t matter if we’d been travelling a lot, playing loads of games, training too hard or not training enough, Rassie’s attitude was, ‘You can’t on the one hand say you’d do anything to play for the Boks, that you’d die on the field for your country, and on the other hand say that you didn’t feel quite right. That’s bullshit.