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The World Cup final – normal time
The giant scoreboard that hung high up in the famous Ellis park stadium of Johannesburg read 9-9. Francois Pienaar, the bullnecked captain of the South African rugby team, the Springboks, the inspiration of a team and the hero of a nation, grimaced as he ran towards the man with the ball, bracing for the collision that he was soon about to feel. It would have been natural for anyone to grimace, for the man he was going to hit was a massive juggernaut of a human being. Standing two inches taller than Pienaar at 6 feet 5 inches tall and a good 20 kilos or so heavier at 125 kg, the giant running with the ball, Jonah Lomu, was a beast.
We are, however, talking about rugby - a game in which the even the ‘smallest’ players tend to have biceps the size of small houses and necks that could put bulls to shame. What set Lomu apart was his speed. A raw, animal speed which when combined with his size, power and single-minded determination enabled him to destroy absolutely everyone that stood in his path.
Over the course of the previous month Lomu had lived up to his billing as the game’s biggest superstar, as magical display after stellar magical display led New Zealand, the All Blacks, on an unstoppable march through the Rugby World Cup. They had overpowered and virtually swatted away all opposition as they haka-ed their way into the final of the World Cup.
Pienaar collided hard with Lomu who had already been tackled by the incredibly tenacious and massively strong scrum half, Joost van der Westhuizen; the two Springboks managing to stop Lomu for the umpteenth time that day. Van der Weisthuizen had put in a truly remarkable display and as the clocked ticked down, the great Lomu was still scoreless.
It was remarkable that the South Africans were competing so well that day, for unlike the All Blacks, South Africa had not had an easy run into the final, struggling for form before the tournament and pushing their way through their first World Cup with the sheer force of will and unwavering determination. They were at it again in the final, as they fought back with everything they had.
In the dying minutes of normal time, the All black fly half, Andrew Mehrtens (who like his opposite number Joel Stransky had kicked all their nine points till then) took another drop-kick. The world held its collective breath. The kick sailed agonizingly wide of the post for Mehrtens and his All Black teammates as the second half ended with the score still 9-9. It was going to be extra-time, the first time a World Cup final had been dragged on so long.
This was a truly staggering acievement for the Springboks, especially considering the fact that just a couple of years ago they would not even have featured in this competition.
A time of tumultuous upheaval in South Africa
This World Cup was the first official international sporting tournament any South African team had competed in for a long time. Their sports teams had been ostracized due to a ban from international competition as the world united in protesting against the hated and cruel regime of apartheid that prevailed within the country.
All that was about to change. On the 2nd of February, 1990, after 27 unbearably long years, the symbol of the native black resistance, Nelson Mandela, was released from prison. Four years later, following the first fair democratic elections held in the country, Madiba (a Xhosa clan name that signified respect and affection), as he was lovingly called by his adoring countrymen, was elected President with an overwhelming majority.
The 27 years in prison had changed Mandela, his early hatred and aggression transforming to an outlook on life that was truly beautiful. This was a truly monumental metamorphosis of a personality, and the effect that the great man has had on his nation are truly overwhelming. Words could hardly do it justice.
Anyway, what did all this have to do with the Rugby world cup?
Everything.
The implausible love story of Madiba and Springbok Rugby
South African rugby at the time was the sole domain of the white man, the Afrikaner, and as such the Springboks, the national team, were a figure of intense hate for the majority of black South Africans. Mandela, however, realized that dismantling the Springboks (as many within the country and his party wanted) or even marginalizing them would do much more harm than good to the fragile balance in his nation’s society, and plunge the lives of the people he loved into chaos .
Madiba soon become a vociferous supporter of the Springboks, regularly interacting with Pienaar and the team, convincing them to visit areas they would normally have never have set foot in (like Soweto, a black-dominated neighbourhood of Johannesburg). He somehow managed to change the perception of racism that surrounded the team and found a way for Springbok Rugby to reach the hearts of the Black community without losing the connection to its Afrikaner roots, for the game was interlinked with the Afrikaner psyche like nothing else. Madiba had transformed this Afrikaner bastion into a symbol of hope and change that everyone – people of all colours, the entire nation – would rally around.
Now, sport had always been used to channel the energies and passion of people, with international sport being the ultimate arena on which millions of people vicariously lived out their dreams and passions through the most talented athletes on the planet. But no team, no single group of players, had ever held quite as much significance to their country as this.
Francois Pienaar and his teammates were playing for a nation united like never before. This unity was precariously perched, walking a deadly tightrope that the nation would fail to traverse unless victory was delivered here.
They had to win.
The World Cup final – extra time
As extra time drew on, the obdurate South Africans, nullifying the attacking might of the All Blacks, fought with everything they had got – both teams laying out their hearts and souls for all the world to see, as they battled relentlessly for supremacy in a match that epitomized the greatness of rugby and all sport.
Seven minutes from time, that man again, Joel Strasnky, received the ball a good 30 metres from the posts. Looking up once, entering into that cocoon of calmness only accessible to the greatest of athletes, a cocoon in which they are unaffected by the tension, the nervousness and the extreme pressure surrounding them, Stransky kicked the ball. It flew in between the posts; the drop kick was a good one. South Africa now led 15-12.
World Champions – Springbok Rugby and South Africa
When the referee blew the final whistle, South Africa had become world champions. A rugby team had beaten all odds and superior opponents to win the World Cup at home. For South Africa, however, it signified so much more – a nation whose pride and reputation in the eyes of the world lay shattered as it grew into a symbol of oppression and violence, now rose gloriously from those depths, to show the world that they too could now win. They too were champions.
The presentation of the William Ebb Ellis Cup to the victors turned out be one of the most moving and iconic images in the history of sport. Nelson Mandela, wearing the Springbok jersey and cap, stepped on to the field to hand over the trophy to his captain. Sport had transcended its boundaries. Springbok Rugby had become a beacon of hope to a nation grappling with its own conscience.
As Francois Pienaar raised the cup high in the sky, his compatriots rose as one to usher in a new age for the country they now called the ‘Rainbow Nation’
Epilogue
This short write-up does little justice to the magnificent story of Francois Pienaar (and the whole of Springbok Rugby) and Nelson Mandela. Do try and catch ahold of John Carlin’s excellent Playing the Enemy or at the very least the magnificent movie Invictus to learn more about this magnificent sporting tale.
As the first ever Mandela Day passes us by, we could all do with some looking back into the great man’s life. He taught us that in life, as in sport, love, courage, sacrifice and determination are the means to lasting success .
Let us strive to remember him and his teachings forever. There is a lot the world can learn from Nelson Rohilalhla Mandela.
