PARIS, (Reuters):

SOUTH AFRICA hope their victory over England in yesterday's Rugby World Cup final will have the same positive impact on their country as their previous win in 1995.

The Springboks' victory in 1995 helped unite a country just out of the post-apartheid era with then president Nelson Mandela presenting the Webb Ellis Cup to Francois Pienaar wearing a replica of his jersey.

South Africa's current president Thabo Mbeki was in Paris yesterday to see the Springboks beat England 15-6 and later joined in the post-match celebrations.

"What do you say when you've won a World Cup? It's an unbelievable experience," South Africa coach Jake White told a news conference.

"It hasn't even sunk in yet but to see the president of our country sitting on the players shoulders holding the World Cup ... is something to be really proud of. It doesn't get bigger than that for us.

"A country like South Africa realised in 1995 how much winning World Cups actually means to us as a nation."

"People ask why we take the World Cup so seriously. It's much bigger than any other event, what it did to us as a nation.

"We've now won a World Cup away from home. We had our president sitting in the changing room. He was saying how proud he was of being a South African."

South African rugby has been troubled but Springboks skipper John Smit also believes his team's victory will have a lasting effect on South Africans.

"You can't put it into words. We have had the responsibility of carrying the hopes of a nation on our shoulders and now we have a team that is taking the trophy back home to the nation," he said.

"I certainly hope that being able to lift this Cup and take it back home can create a scenario that everyone binds together and we start forgetting about counting numbers and colours."

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