The 1995 Rugby World Cup was a very significant event for South Africa. It was the first major sporting event after the South African apartheid. This was the third rugby world cup and was hosted by South Africa. Usually during a world cup, the matches are held in different countries. During the Cup in 1995, all of the rugby matches were held in South Africa. It was also the first games that South was allowed to compete in. The final match was held in Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa between the New Zealand All Blacks and the South African Springboks. It was a very intense game resulting in a win for South Africa. On June 24, 1995, South Africa wins the World Cup with a 15-12 victory against New Zealand in the finals.
After the match, Nelson Mandela, the president of South Africa, presented the trophy cup to his winning team. There were 16 different countries competing for the world cup. A total of 32 were played between the 16 teams. Mandela uses rugby to join his nation together and not have them separated by race. After the world cup, it was as if the apartheid never happened. Blacks could interact with whites and there would be no consequences. Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African Springboks was a very nice white man. He let the influence of his nations president, Mandela raise his teams spirits and helped them unite to win the world cup for their country. Pienaar and his fellow teammates watched Mandela struggle to become one of the worlds most influential characters and thought they could bring him the joy of winning the tournament.
This was a very interesting event to research. The Rugby World Cup was one of the most influential and significant events during South Africa's apartheid. The black president supports a white team of athletes, which lets others find respect for Mandela. After the World Cup, Mandela shows his respect to his country's team. It was very dramatic when he presented the trophy because he was the first black president after the apartheid in South Africa and was presenting the trophy to his fellow South Africans, but the team was white. Mandela was the most influential character to end his nations apartheid. There were several books and movies that were made to represent how important this event was. One very famous movie that was based on this event was, Invictus starring, Morgan Freeman, playing the role of Nelson Mandela. South Africa is still one of the best Rugby teams to this day. There will be more World Cups and more significant events that help create a better nation. But we know that the 1995 Rugby World Cup was probably the biggest event to create a new South Africa.
Bibliography:
Bond, Karen. "Mandela Unites a Nation to RWC glory."RugbyWorldCup.com. International Rugby Board, 09 Jul 2007. Web. 18 Dec 2013.
Carlin, John. "The Full Nelson." Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Penguin Press, 18 Aug 2008. Web. 18 Dec 2013.
Carlin, John. "How Nelson Mandela won the rugby World Cup." telegraph.co.uk. Penguin Press, 19 Oct 2007. Web. 18 Dec 2013.
-Aziz Ali, A1
The way the 1995 Rugby World Cup was after apartheid made think about how African-Americans played professional baseball after the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves in America. In both cases even though the groups supposedly had the same rights as the majority race, there was still discrimination and injustice present. In the United States it came through poll taxes and “separate but equal” public services. In South Africa it simply was the stark contrast between whites and blacks caused by years of apartheid. I’m sure that even though the World Cup helped unite their country, the natives were still at a disadvantage (such as not having an accessible television).
ReplyDelete--Xavier B, A2