For Abdelatif Benazzi, the 1995 World Cup is not only a sporting event, it is also the realization of his “mektoub”, his destiny. In any case, this is how he explains France’s surreal defeat against South Africa in the semi-final, in “The Giants of Rugby, a Europe 1 Studio podcast.
Since the start of the match, the refereeing has been doubtful, the Welshman Derek Bevan refused two tries to France with unconvincing justifications, and granted one to the Springboks which is controversial. It was the time of refereeing without video… Despite this, the French XV is neck and neck with South Africa. Abdelatif Benazzi is then 10 meters from the goal line when he receives the ball and rushes to give victory to his team.
But the French third line fails, a failure that he still cannot explain almost 30 years later: “We have done this action 100 times today, and 100 times I am 10 meters behind the line . But no, I fall like a weight, I remain glued to the ground.” Benazzi flattens the ball on the line but the try is not there according to the referee, who whistles shortly after the end of the match. France is eliminated and South Africa advances to the final.
“South Africa Day”
“Mandela has been there, destiny has been there”, for Benazzi it was superior forces that intervened during this match. Perhaps the South African President wearing the jersey of South African captain François Pienaar, a pure Afrikaner product, has something to do with it… Whatever it is, Abdelatif Benazzi is certain, it does not couldn’t have happened otherwise, “it was South Africa’s day”.
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This victory is the victory of 42 million South Africans, that of a country united, for a brief moment, behind a team, a cause. “I learned that day that sport was more than winning or losing and that was good for this country,” says Benazzi.
His words were heard in South Africa, even at the highest levels, and earned him a much more significant reward than a trophy: a letter of thanks from Nelson Mandela himself. “Sport has the power to change the world because it has the power to inspire people,” the South African President wrote to him. Discover Abdelatif Benazzi’s touching story about his 1995 World Cup, in “The Giants of Rugby”, an original podcast produced by Europe 1 Studio.