Johannesburg: A sea of green and gold greeted South Africa's victorious rugby team on its return home on Tuesday after winning the Rugby World Cup in France.
Thousands of fans waited at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport to see captain John Smit emerge holding aloft the golden Webb Ellis trophy along with coach Jake White and his beaming team mates.
"It's incredible," Smit said on a live television broadcast from the airport. "This is a big moment. For the first time it is settling in what we have done."
South Africa beat England 15-6 in a convincing win in Paris on Saturday.
South Africans have thrown their support behind the national team, known as the Springboks, after they emerged the favourites of the tournament.
On Tuesday, fans sang, waved flags and carried posters welcoming the champions at the start of a planned weeklong celebration that will see the team tour the country.
The players looked startled as they struggled to make their way through the throng of supporters to a stage outside the airport arrival hall, where a designated fan area had been set up under a heavy police presence.
It was like "lifting up the nation," said Ashwin Willemse - one of six black players in the squad - who picked up President Thabo Mbeki and carried him on his shoulders after the end of the final on Saturday.
With rugby still largely a white sport in South Africa, the victory is seen as a symbol of reconciliation in a country still trying to overcome racial tensions.
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