France travel to Newlands to take on South Africa on Saturday, almost 15 years to the day since one of the most iconic contests in the history of rugby.

The venue for the semi-final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup between France and the Springboks was not Cape Town, but Kings Park in Durban, and was beset by fierce thunderstorms and lashings of rain. Groundsmen, and several women with brooms, desperately fought to clear the playing surface of standing water as referee Derek Bevan's fears for a collapsed scrum grew.

The game's kick-off was delayed by an hour, with South Africa's eventual cathartic triumph hanging in the balance. Had the game been called off, France would have progressed to the final on the basis of a superior disciplinary record in the tournament. As it was, the game went ahead in atrocious conditions, leaving flanker Ruben Kruger to seal the narrowest of 19-15 victories with the only try of the game. The rest, as they say, is history.

"With lightning flashing out across the Indian Ocean, thunder echoing round the bay and one end of the ground looking more like a lake than a rugby pitch, there seemed to be no chance of the game starting at all," wrote Mick Cleary in The Guardian.

"[Derek] Bevan apparently was concerned mostly about the dangers posed if a scrum should collapse in a large pool of water. As a gaggle of officials stood in the middle of the pitch, fingers crossed behind their backs and water squelching over their shoes, they hit upon the high-tech way to get the match under way. No expense was spared by the organisers of a tournament expected to return a profit of £20 million. They gave the signal and five old dears with scarves around their heads ambled on to the pitch with brooms and began gently sweeping the way to the touchline. It was rich entertainment on a miserably sodden day."

Francois Pienaar Centre, protecting the ball

Now a figure remembered around the world for Matt Damon's portrayal in the Hollywood film Invictus, Pienaar was the beating heart of the South African effort. A committed flanker, he was from the 'lead by example' school. A legend with Transvaal, for whom he made 100 appearances, 89 as captain, Pienaar's international career was relatively short, spanning three years and 29 caps.

In 1993 South Africa, under Naas Botha, lost Tests to New Zealand, Australia, France and England while Pienaar led Transvaal to the inaugural Super 10 title and the Currie Cup. The decision was taken to install Pienaar as skipper, and he took his underdog side into the World Cup off the back of some unspectacular results. What followed has passed into sporting folklore as the un-fancied home side upset the odds to claim the title. Coach Andre Markgraaff unceremoniously dropped Pienaar ahead of the 1996 Tri-Nations Test with New Zealand, and Pienaar would never play for the Springboks again. After his international exile Pienaar first played for and then coached Saracens, before Clint Eastwood and the boys brought him back into the limelight in 2009.

Joost van der Westhuizen Far left

Regarded as one of the greatest scrum-halves the game has ever seen, van der Westhuizen was capped a total of 89 times during a 10-year international career. His outstanding service to the Springboks included three Rugby World Cups and he retired as the most capped Springbok of all time - a record that has since passed to Percy Montgomery - and he is still his country's all-time leading try-scorer. The no-nonsense No.9 later joined South African broadcaster Supersport as a commentator and more recently was embroiled in a controversial sex and drugs tape scandal that rocked his marriage to the equally high-profile Amor Vittone.

Ruben Kruger Far right

Kruger's try was the defining moment of the semi-final, and paved the way for one of the most famous images in sport as Pienaar collected the Cup from Mandela. Kruger started the final at Ellis Park alongside skipper Francois Pienaar and Mark Andrews and was named as South Africa's Player of the Year following the tournament. At club level he made his name first with Free State and then Northern Transvaal (Blue Bulls), winning his first South African cap in 1993 and retiring due to a knee injury 36 caps later following the 1999 World Cup. In 2000 he was diagnosed with cancer after blacking out during a game, he died in 2010 and was the first of the Springbok side to pass. In ESPNscrum's obituary, Huw Richards described him as, "A superb all-round back-row forward. The selectors for South African Player of the Year for 1995, an incomparable year, certainly knew about him, because he was their choice ahead of Pienaar, Williams, van der Westhuizen and an entire squad who entered national mythology. This observer of that tournament has no doubt they were right."

Christophe Deylaud No.10 - France

France's fly-half in the final was Toulouse's Christophe Deylaud. Like so many players associated with Le rouge et noir, his club career was phenomenally successful. The Toulouse native won four French titles in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 as well as the inaugural Heineken Cup in 1996. It was his penalty in the dying seconds of extra time that defeated Cardiff 21-18 at the Arms Park. His Test career was more modest, with 16 caps gleaned between 1992 and 1995, with only three in the Five Nations. He played four Tests at the World Cup, against the Ivory Coast, Scotland, Ireland and the semi-final against the Springboks. Following the end of his playing career he went into coaching with one of his former clubs, Agen, who won promotion to the Top 14 in 2010.