Cape Town — Following the wild celebrations of their incredible World Cup final victory, the Springboks returned home to a heroes welcome, with some members of the squad sporting new hairstyles.
The Springboks returned to OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon to crowds of thousands who waited patiently to welcome to the team home. The Springboks will now embark on their trophy tour, starting in Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Soweto on Thursday, November 2. They head to Cape Town on Friday 3 November, Durban on Saturday 4 November, and conclude in the Eastern Cape (East London) on Sunday, November 5.
However, amidst all the celebrations, one thing was noticeably different about certain players, namely Eben Etzebeth, Jasper Wiese, Damian Willemse and Jean Kleyn, who decided to celebrate winning the World Cup by cutting their hair.
Etzebeth first showed off his new hairdo when he attended the World Rugby Awards in Paris. He was asked how the celebrations went the night before and he immediately pointed out his new hairstyle, thanks to RG Snyman.
“You can look how my hair looks, thanks to RG Snyman at 5 O’Clock this morning, so thanks for that!” he said.
“Look at how my hair looks, thanks to RG Snyman at 5 o’clock this morning!”
Eben Etzebeth was on the receiving end of a dodgy late-night haircut after South Africa’s @rugbyworldcup win 😅#WorldRugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/0xHLhwUsEN
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) October 29, 2023
Upon his return to SA on Tuesday, he attended a media conference where he revealed that he made a bet with RG that, should SA win the World Cup, he would cut his hair in the same style as RG’s mullet/mohawk style, and he duly obliged.
“It was about five weeks ago. Me and RG Snyman spoke on the bus. I just said if we can win the World Cup, I will cut my hair the same as yours and after the win in the final, it was about half past four in the morning, and the last time I drank water was in the game. He reminded me of my bet and obviously I wanted to be a man of my word. and I mean, I’ll do anything. So he sat me down and Damian Willemse cut my hair.”
“I’ve gotten a few compliments, probably from all my friends. My wife also said it’s not too bad. So as long as she’s happy, I’m happy”, the towering lock added.
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Jasper Wiese was next to follow suit as he showed up to the World Rugby Awards with a completely shaven head, as shown in a picture he took with Bongi Mbonambi. Jean Kleyn and Damian Willemse also got in on the action as they rocked brand new cuts, which they posted to their Instagram stories. Take a look at the players and their new haircuts below:
“JASPER WIESE HAS SHAVED HIS HEAD! 😂”
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Damian Willemse finding out that what goes around… comes around 😂 #GoFasterStripes pic.twitter.com/o8r4uMf3f4
— A-P (@rugby_ap) October 31, 2023
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
