[imagesource: YouTube / SuperSport]

The Newlands rugby era is over.

There have already been emotional farewells, and the incompetence of the Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) and its handling of the situation is well known, but let’s focus only on what took place on the hallowed turf.

I know Thursdays are for throwbacks, but we may as well take a trip down memory lane with SuperSport’s compilation of some of Newlands’ standout rugby memories.

Writing for the broadcaster, Gavin Rich said we should start by casting our minds back to 1995:

The 1995 Springboks won that year’s World Cup at Ellis Park but it was at Newlands that the tone was set when Madiba came out of the tunnel before the opening game between South Africa and Australia to the sound of raucous chants of Nelson, Nelson, Nelson…

That set the scene for the nation building triumph that was to follow, just as Pieter Hendricks’ try, and that finger wave as he rounded David Campese, set the Boks on their path to the Webb Ellis trophy.

None of that features in the video below, but there’s a baby-faced Frans Steyn drop-goal, some Gio Aplon magic, and plenty of other familiar faces to do the trick:

I feel like we can’t overlook what happened on June 18, 1995, either.

Lomu, Catt – enough said:

We may never see another athlete quite like Jonah.

Here’s hoping the Cape Town Stadium can provide similar magic in the years to come.

[source:supersport]