Ola K Ase

No serious commentator at the 1995 World Cup had given François Pienaar's Springboks much chance of defeating the All Blacks, quite the most formidable rugby team anyone could remember. Just reading the line-up was daunting enough. Zinzan Brooke, Ian Jones, Frank Bunce, Walter Little, Jeff Wilson and the captain Sean Fitzpatrick were names that jumped at you - never mind Jonah Lomu who, pitiless as a combined harvester, had demoralised, then destroyed Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England on the way to the final. Never more true was the comment from Pienaar about New Zealand, because of their 'aura of superiority', winning 50 per cent of their matches even before they stepped on to the field.

Yet no such thoughts preoccupied the South Africa manager Morné du Plessis on that crisp June afternoon in Johannesburg. 'You know,' said Du Plessis, a former Springbok captain, recalling four years later his feelings as he stood on the touchline watching the All Blacks perform the haka, 'I looked at them, at this fantastic rugby team, and, far from feeling intimidated, I almost felt sorry for them.'

What Du Plessis had sensed from the atmosphere that day was that the All Blacks were not going up against 15 men, but against history, against the destiny of a whole country, as embodied in the figure of Nelson Mandela. What did it for Du Plessis - what did it for Pienaar and his team-mates, for the 65,000 fans in the stadium, for the hundreds of millions watching on TV and, probably, for the All Blacks themselves - was the sight of South Africa's first democratically elected president walking out on to the pitch before the game wearing the Springbok jersey and the Springbok cap.

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