World Cup pedigree

There have been other teams who have neither won the World Cup nor made it to a final, but none appear as scarred by the event as South Africa. Heartbreak has haunted South Africa since the heavens opened to deny them a place in the 1992 final and has then hounded them every event after that. In terms of personnel and potential, South Africa have been good enough to win every one of the six tournaments they have been to, but they have always been pushed back by pressure. Whether they have exorcised the ghosts of past tournaments will determine if they can fulfill their promise this time.