Oregan Hoskins,right, president of the SARU presents a framed a Bok jersey to Kirsten Nematandani, president of the SAFA (Supplied)

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Cape Town - The South African Rugby Union urged Bafana Bafana to make South Africa proud when SARU pledged their support to the team’s FIFA World Cup campaign at a dinner in honour of the South African Football Association (SAFA) in Kempton Park on Tuesday.

“Rugby is backing Bafana Bafana and SAFA all the way - hopefully right to the final on July 11th,” said Oregan Hoskins, president of the South African Rugby Union.

“We’ll be busy with our own internationals during the FIFA World Cup but you can be sure the Springboks will be following Bafana Bafana every step of the way and urging them on - and they’ll be in the stands in their Bafana jerseys at Loftus Versfeld on Youth Day to cheer on the team against Uruguay.

“We saw in rugby in 1995 the effect that being the host nation can have on a team and we believe that Bafana Bafana will ride the same wave - we’re backing them to make us all proud.”

Hoskins presented a signed Springbok jersey to Kirsten Nematandani, the president of SAFA, at a dinner organised by SARU and hosted by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in Kempton Park to mark SARU’s support.

“We’re not saying the Springbok jersey has magical powers, but we hope it may act as a good luck charm - and certainly won’t be something that SAFA currently has on their office walls,” joked Hoskins.

“This is a massive sporting event in terms of soccer, but it is arguably even bigger in terms of the life of South Africa and we’re sure that Bafana Bafana will rise to the occasion. They confounded the critics during the FIFA Confederations Cup a year ago, proving how competitive they can be against the world’s leading nations.

“We’re now holding our breath with the rest of the nation for the start of the tournament.”

The dinner was attended by the majority of South African rugby’s 14 provincial presidents as well as other rugby stakeholders, who were attending a workshop on demographics and player retention.