Former Springbok lock Kobus Wiese reveals the reason why he was PUNCHED at the final whistle of the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final

In an interview with South African sports blog The Yellow Cap, former Springbok lock Kobus Wiese opened up about why he was punched by Ian Jones in the closing seconds of the famous 1995 Rugby World Cup final win.

Following Joel Stransky's famous drop goal the Springboks had a scrum in the closing seconds leading New Zealand 15-12 and were about to win a historic RWC at their first attempt.

This is when a moment occurred that all these years later, numerous of fans may not have actually even noticed as All Black lock Ian Jones struck Kobus Wiese, just as the scrum went down and referee Ed Morrison blew the final whistle.

Le Roux and Wiese were good friends and it appears retribution was dealt out by the Boks that Jones took exception to. 

The now 55-year-old was reluctant to talk about it, but has revealed how it came about.

“It’s part of the game.. You remember the [former Bok prop] Johan le Roux incident in New Zealand with Sean Fitzpatrick [in 1994], when unfortunately they didn’t feed Johan well enough so he nibbled on Sean’s ear? People saw it differently unfortunately and “Joe” was suspended for a couple of weeks.

“He was one of the hard men of rugby, he could take it on the chin and also dish it out. He’s also a great guy and a really good person.

“I promised Joe that if there was ever a chance for payback, one of us – his teammates – would oblige. And we’ll leave that there for technical and legal reasons!

“In that last scrum, we paid back the dues for Joe and clearly Jonesy was a bit frustrated as well because he knew it was all over and he started punching. But I didn’t mind, I took it on the chin, because we had paid back the favour and it was all in good spirit.

“We had a cold one – a lemonade – afterwards anyway and we’re friends to this day.”

You can see the full interview below: