The 1995 World Cup is a multi stranded story we never tire of. Nelson Mandela, elected at South Africa’s first President only a year earlier, rises above 20-plus 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...