Amidst a host of fanfare last week, surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the Springboks winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup, players and fans alike took to Twitter to display their delight at the reminder of one of South Africa’s finest sporting moments. I mean there are few moments as goosebump inducing as Francois Pienaar and Nelson Mandela stood side by side with the Webb Ellis Cup.
So on the annivesary last week Wednesday, social media was abuzz. The 1995 Springbok team reunited at Ellis Park Stadium to relive the match but unlike 1995, both the players and their fans were able to Tweet their way through this historic game. Francois Pienaar, Joel Stransky, Brendan Venter, Andre Joubert and Chester Williams among others, Tweeted their thoughts, comments and memories of this historic game which resulted in #1995reunited trending on Twitter.
The relationship between sport and Twitter continues to strengthen as Twitter has become a tool for fans to watch, listen,cover, read and talk about sport. Twitter brings fans closer to their sporting heroes and gives them a direct communication channel to ask questions, get behind the scenes insight and wish the players well for upcoming games. As people search for more instant methods of communication, sports fans are embracing the social network to talk about sports events in real-time and connect with their favourite players on a more personal level.
Fans aren’t just watching sport any more, they are getting involved directly with the experience on Twitter too because Twitter is a great complement to traditional media and its real-time nature has created new, interactive ways for fans to consume sport.
Here is recap of the historic 1995 Rugby World Cup final in Tweets:
The Boeing going over Ellispark during 1995 RWC was something special #1995reunited pic.twitter.com/cOiBLPzabA
— Nelio de Sà (@NelioDeSa) June 24, 2015
#1995reunited what a kick the very best of my career what a time to do it pic.twitter.com/skuJQ6dB5e — Chester Williams (@chestermw11) June 24, 2015
Kicking this is much harder than it looks. Great BMT from Joel.
— Brendan Venter (@BrendanVenter) June 24, 2015
That should have been a penalty try!! #1995reunited — Francois Pienaar (@Pienaar) June 24, 2015
#1995reunited at this stage the senior guys really stood up and took responsibility in leading us.
— Chris Rossouw (@chrisrossouw) June 24, 2015
👊👊 “@SuperSportTV: #1995reunited – “Sport has the power to change the world.” – @NelsonMandela. #SSRugby pic.twitter.com/3Jx9n5jAw9” — aleckie ronald (@SirAlexas) June 24, 2015
Later this year the Springboks will take to the Rugby World Cup once again, looking to become the first team to win the title three times. You can be sure that the social media buzz will be massive and that All Things Jabu will bring you the best of the action!