ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the creation of the semiotic linkages through the sport of rugby that helped unify the white communities of South Africa over the five-year period following the end of the Second Anglo–Boer War. Even as South Africa’s sports teams found themselves ostracized from international competition, Springboks rugby continued to serve a palliative function as a unifier between disparate white cultures. The semiotic value of Springboks rugby was explicitly confined to white identities. The Springboks made one decision that demonstrated the unique identity that was forming among white South Africans. The home side held the Springboks to a solitary try by Vice Captain Harold J. Carolin in the first half but could not match the physicality of the colonial side in the second half. The Springboks’ win over the Welshmen at Swansea sent fans back in Johannesburg jubilantly onto Pritchard Street for a second straight weekend of celebrations.
