As South Africa was swept up in wild revelry at the conclusion of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, one moment was allowed to float into the ether, largely unforgotten and unlamented.

It was the try that wasn’t, when the late Ruben Kruger drove through a pile of bodies and appeared to score in the first half. Referee Ed Morrison thought otherwise – this was before TMO’s, remember – and ruled that the flanker’s effort had been held up.

The action moved off quickly and history records that Joel Stransky’s heroics were pivotal in getting South African rugby’s greatest party started. It’s just as well, for had the All Blacks somehow conjured a win at Ellis Park, Morrison’s faux pas would have been amplified. He would have been painted as the villain of the piece and gone down in ignominy. (Bryce Lawrence could tell you all about that).

We know it was an error because now, exactly 20 years later, Morrison says so.

Talking to the World Rugby Show about that famous day, Morrison recalls believing then that he didn’t feel the Springboks had grounded the ball, Frank Bunce getting under Kruger’s desperate lunge.

Now, though, he says: “When you look at the footage, you could probably argue that he did bring the ball into contact with the grass . . . so that was something I reflected on. But nobody said anything because they won. I was lucky as well, if you like.”

It’s a staggering admission by the English official, but given the extraordinary circumstances of the day and the absence of a second or third pair of eyes, he did a splendid job in managing the game as well as he did. He really could only see out of one eye, too, although that’s a story for another day.

“I’ll always thank Joel Stransky, as I have many times before,” he said, “because it was right it was won by points. It was a result bigger than the game of rugby. It gave the populace something they aspired to, coming together as a nation. Nelson Mandela just worked it beautifully, beautifully.”

Sadly Kruger is no longer with us to tell his side of the story – he died of brain cancer five years ago – but it gives pause to reflect on the capricious nature of sport.

How might South African rugby’s greatest day have turned out had that score been given? Would the All Blacks have roared back, or would the Boks have kicked on?