In South Africa, rugby – the hooligan’s game played by gentlemen – has traditionally been a sport favored mostly by whites, and the years of apartheid rule reinforced it as a sport not available to “non-whites”. All of that changed when Nelson Mandela stepped onto the field of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final match, smiling and wearing the green and gold jersey of the Springboks, the country’s national rugby team.
This powerful gesture of support, unexpected throughout the racial spectrum of South Africa, served as an act of reconciliation – euphorically uniting South Africans of all races on that day and suggesting a path of tolerance as the country worked on adopting its newly-established democracy.
Fifteen years later, although all eyes are on soccer as South Africa prepares to host the esteemed World Cup 2010 soccer event, this is also rugby season and this month is the prestigious Super 14 tournament. For the semi-final, the Blue Bulls rugby team announced it has chosen Orlando Stadium as its host venue – a stadium in the heart of Soweto, the country’s largest black township. It will be an unusual setting for a predominantly white team and its supporters, but it is being seen by some as a gesture of racial reconciliation.
Francois Pienaar, the Springbok captain whose shirt Mandela wore at the 1995 rugby final, told The Sunday Telegraph: “It is great news, so exciting and proves once again the power of sport in cutting across boundaries and uniting people.”
