South Africa's newspapers were united in praise for the country's rugby team on Sunday after the Springboks were crowned world champions against England in Paris.
Jake White's team could not manage a repeat performance of their 36-0 mauling of the holders in the group stage, but the 15-6 win against a gutsy English team saw them emulate the triumph of 12 years ago when they lifted the Webb Ellis trophy in front of their home crowd.
The Sunday Times, South Africa's biggest national newspaper, led with the headline: 'Glory Boys! - SA parties as mighty Boks bring it home'.
And party the country did, with all major cities across the nation erecting big screens which drew hundreds of thousands of spectators. The newspaper also carried a column by former Springbok coach and recently-appointed Italy boss Nick Mallet under the banner: 'Jake has been SA's white knight'.
Mallet wrote: 'One of the reasons why South Africa has done so well is that Jake White has managed to hang in as coach despite, at times, being under brutal political pressure and also pressure from Saru (South African Rugby Union), including being called back from overseas for a meeting when there was a hiccup.
'As has been the case with all South African coaches, he has had to deal with not having the full backing of his own board, and he has done outstandingly well to focus on rugby issues.'
Afrikaans newspaper Rapport led with the headline: 'Bravo! Bokke - Mandela on SA team: We are a winning nation'.
The headline referred to a text message sent to the newspaper by former president Nelson Mandela immediately after the full-time whistle in which he said: 'We are a winning nation. Outstanding! Well done men. You are our pride.'
Another Afrikaans newspaper, Sondag, had a full-page picture depicting president Thabo Mbeki being lifted onto the shoulders of the Springbok players at the presentation of the trophy with the headline 'Cup of Victory'.
Leading African Sunday newspaper, City Press, preferred to focus on the unity the win provided for the nation with the headline: 'SA fans show undivided Bok loyalty'.
The paper said: 'South Africa's first citizen President Thabo Mbeki led a huge South African contingent at last night's IRB World Cup in France. More than 35,000 South African supporters made their way to the Stade de France to watch the Springboks take on England.
'They included government ministers Makhenkesi Stofile (sports), Essop Pahad (presidency), Zola Skweyiya (social development) and Naledi Pandor (education).'
It went on to highlight the amount of support the Springboks pulled. Finally, a tabloid with a big African readership, Sunday World, led with the line: 'Boks take over the World'.
