President Thabo Mbeki wished the Springboks well on Friday, the eve of their Australian quest for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, expressing confidence they would emerge victorious. "I am quite certain the team will do us proud," he said during a brief meeting with the squad at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria. "I agree... that we will bring back the cup." The awarding of the Nobel Prize for Literature to JM Coetzee proved that South Africa was a country of distinguished people, Mbeki said after shaking hands with the entire squad. "I think this award to JM Coetzee says to us as we go to Australia that we are going to win." South Africans had confidence in the team, Mbeki said, despite the recent racial controversy sparked by the alleged refusal of Geo Cronje to share a room with fellow lock Quinton Davids. "We've all said there is nothing that happened in the Springboks that is not happening in our society generally. Therefore, I think any suggestion that there is any particular wrongdoing by the Springboks is wrong," the president said. "The decision that we must go to Australia and that we go as a united team, with the whole country behind the Springboks, that is a very correct decision." Mbeki expressed confidence in the team's leaders, including captain Corne Krige and coach Rudolf Straeuli. "Best wishes and come back with the cup," he concluded before posing for photos with the team. Krige presented Mbeki with a framed poster depicting the president in a Springbok jersey under the title: "Operation Down Under." The poster, signed by the team, states: "Our blood is green, is yours?"