- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It’s one of the greatest upsets in Rugby World Cup history, the Springboks stunning the All Blacks 15-12 to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in South Africa.
However, one of the less savoury aspects of the tournament are the claims New Zealand’s players had their drinks spiked before the final on behalf of bookmakers.
A mysterious waitress, identified only as ‘Suzie’, has long been blamed for giving the All Blacks food poisoning when they went for a meal a few nights before the match.
The claims were never substantiated, but now, more than two decades after the game, one of then-President Nelson Mandela’s former bodyguards has spoken out about the conspiracy.
Rory Steyn was part of the All Blacks’ security detail during the ’95 World Cup, and the former police officer believes New Zealand’s players were the victim of spiked drinks.
“On the Thursday [June 22] before the final, which was on Saturday [June 24], they were poisoned. About two-thirds of the squad got very sick, properly sick,” Steyn told the New Zealand Herald.
“I believe it was the water that was got at, because the food that was served at lunch time … was chicken burgers and hamburgers.”
Since players who ate the chicken and players who ate the hamburgers both got sick, Steyn ruled out food poisoning being the problem:
“I don’t think it was the food, I think it was the coffee and the tea and possibly even the drinking water.”
No culprit was uncovered, but Steyn maintains it wasn’t bad luck, saying, “I know what I saw … A team of guys lying on the floor, very, very ill.”
The irony was that the team, concerned something of this nature would occur, had eaten separately from other hotel guests – which Steyn objected to.
“I said that makes it easier to target them, I didn’t think it was a good idea,” Steyn said.
While the 1995 title isn’t going to be changing hands, Steyn’s claim may explain how the Springboks managed to keep an All Blacks side featuring a rampaging Jonah Lomu to just 12 points in that famous final.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.