South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday his Government would look to build on the Springboks' World Cup triumph by investing in the sport at grassroots level.

Mbeki was speaking at an official reception for the team at the seat of Government at the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria.

"One of the mistakes of government these last 13 years has been that we haven't paid sufficient attention to the development of sport. We haven't committed sufficient resources to it," Mbeki told the players and officials.

"We need to use this victory to accelerate the process of getting all our young people, black and white, involved in sport. We are relying on the Springboks to inspire young people to play rugby."

He urged the country to put back controversies about representativity, saying that the way to enable this was by ensuring that young players had facilities to train and prepare.

SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins said the team's victory parades would now include a trip to Soweto on Saturday morning, overturning an earlier decision not to visit the country's largest black township.

"SA Rugby didn't quite prepare the finer details of how the celebrations ought to go. But early tomorrow morning, the team will go to Soweto and I make a promise to the nation that we will also take the trophy to the rural areas," Hoskins said.

SA Rugby was widely criticised in newspapers and radio talk shows on Friday morning for destroying all the good feeling and support the Springboks enjoyed among black people after their World Cup triumph by not including Soweto in their parade plans.

The Springboks left the Union Buildings to begin a series of ticker-tape parades, starting in Pretoria, where thousands were already lining the streets, blowing trumpets and chanting, before moving to Johannesburg on Friday afternoon.

Reuters