Nelson Mandela's former bodyguard believes a betting syndicate was behind the likely poisoning of the All Blacks during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Shortly before losing the final, many of the New Zealand side fell violently ill.
Rory Steyn was a top police commander in Johannesburg, and says a lot of money was being gambled.
Steyn said he doesn’t have any proof a gambling syndicate poisoned the All Blacks, but said "it's purely what makes the most sense".
"As a police officer, I know what I saw. The proof is what my eyes showed me with players lying all over the place and doctors administrating whatever medication they could.
"The fact of the matter is the All Blacks were the overwhelming favourites to win that final and I think somebody needed to equalise the odds, that's why they got at the team."
(Photosport)
Steyn said the All Blacks management made the call for the team to eat separately from the rest of the hotel guests.
All Blacks coach Laurie Mains hired a private detective after the tournament, but the investigation turned up very little other than the fact the players were most likely poised by water and not food.
Steyn said he believed it was in the drinks as not every player eating lunch got sick.
"Some of the players who ate beef [got sick] and some didn't. Some of the players who ate chicken got sick and some didn't. Which leads me to believe what Laurie Mains determines when he did his investigation afterwards that it was the water, rather than the food.
"I don't think any of the All Blacks management were necessarily going to listen to a South African's advice at that point," Steyn added about the risks of eating as an isolated group. "That's the decision that was made by the All Blacks management."
Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje was banned from any involvement in cricket after match-fixing allegations in 2000 and sparked Steyn's memories of the Rugby World Cup.
"Years later when that whole Hansie Cronje betting stuff emerged, one of the first things that entered my mind was exactly the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It's nothing new and it's still going on and that's really sad because as we all know that's not what sport is about.
"There are always going to be people when there is money around who choose to kind of tip the scales one way or the other."
Newshub.
