THE 1995 World Cup is a story we never tire of. Nelson Mandela, elected as South Africa’s first president only a year earlier, rises above 20 years of imprisonment by his white oppressors and adopts the Springboks as his team thus sending out a powerful message to the black majority in the rainbow nation who are ‘on show’ to the rest of the world for the five weeks of the tournament. And then the hosts only go and win it! Joy unconfined. Smiles and optimism replace tears and trepidation, at least for a while.
Right from the off – South Africa’s return to the international fold in 1992 against Australia in Cape Town – Mandela made a point of attending Springbok home games whenever possible and took to occasionally dropping in on training in his presidential helicopter. At Cabinet meetings he headed off suggestions from ANC colleagues that the famous Springbok emblem was way too symbolic of the bad old days and should be replaced. Mandela would have no truck with that.
South Africa was a powerhouse rugby nation and their prowess on the playing field a source of much pride to a significant part of the community. Many members of the black and coloured community were also rugby players, albeit disadvantaged and unheralded in former years. There was a bridge that could be built here. Much better surely to be the bigger man, embrace the ‘whiteman’s’ sport, and make the Springboks a source of universal pride. One team one nation.
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