Nelson Mandela: South Africa's 1995 Rugby World Cup winners pay tribute - Telegraph Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela: South Africa's 1995 Rugby World Cup winners pay tribute Key figures from the 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks team, including Joel Stransky, whose drop goal won the cup against the All Blacks, have paid tribute to Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela stands next to the President of the South African Rugby Football Union Louis Luyt at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in Johannesburg Photo: Mark Baker/REUTERS By Mick Cleary , Rugby Correspondent 1:44PM GMT 06 Dec 2013 Watch Mandela's 'walk to freedom' in 1990 For Morne du Plessis, Springbok manager and former captain of South Africa in the apartheid era, it was Nelson Mandela's unique standing that enabled him to appear as he did in a Springbok shirt at the final.

"There was only one man who would have been able to pull it off and that was Nelson Mandela ," said du Plessis, a highly-skilled back-row forward who won 22 caps for his country between 1971-80 and is considered one of their most successful ever captains. "From both sides, within his own party and from the conservative ranks in rugby, there would have been opposition. Because it was him, there was no opposition. He had paid his dues and that was recognised by the response that day. It has become one of the great sports stories of all time. And, no, I never thought I would ever see its like. From where I had come from, playing in the darkest days of apartheid, days that just could not have been darker, to such an enlightened moment is truly remarkable." Du Plessis, who was involved in the FIFA 2010 World Cup and is still one of the foremost sporting figures in the country, dismisses the notion that Mandela's decision to wear the Springbok jersey was carefully calculated.

Related Articles Pienaar: I never imagined I would be so emotional 06 Dec 2013 "I don't think it was and I don't think it would have had the same resonance if it had been," said du Plessis. "It was not a methodical plan to use the World Cup as a tool to win over Afrikaans support. It was simply his feeling at the time. It was him believing that this is what needed to be done and it was him who was going to do it. It was just want the country needed and still needs. It was the day we believed anything was possible." Nelson Mandela: life in pictures Joel Stransky, the man whose extra-time drop goal won the World Cup for South Africa, can remember Mandela looking into his eyes just moments before the teams ran out at Ellis Park 18 years ago. "I was just a boy who wanted to play rugby for my country and was not aware of the significance at that time of the president being in the changing-room wearing a Springbok shirt," said Stransky. "Yet as he moved round the room I quickly realised that he wanted to engage with each and every one of us personally.

I can't remember the precise words he used – I so wish I could – but I do vividly recall that he was making a point of speaking to me as a person. It was specific and to me alone. It was not some generic massage about wishing us luck and hoping we would beat the All Blacks. Madiba had a personal message for each and every player. That touched me as it did everyone in the room. It had a real calming as well as uplifting effect." It worked. New Zealand were favourites but there seemed to be something in the Johannesburg air that day (apart from the giant 747 that came swooping in over the ground before kick-off) that took South Africa to great heights. The All Blacks missed chances, South Africa did not, Stransky's kick eight minutes before the end of extra-time, soaring between the Ellis Park posts, ignited scenes of great celebration across the country. The Rainbow Nation was born that day as President Mandela danced on the podium alongside Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar. "It was such a brave thing for him to do," said Stransky. "Again, I did not realise it at the time. He won the hearts of the nation.

He would have faced opposition from his own people as well as from many Afrikaners. We were a 100 per cent white Springbok side when the tournament started (black wing, Chester Williams was injured) but the president recognised that rugby could be a force for good, a vehicle for change. He was an incredibly wise person. He did not contrive the moment otherwise it would not have worked. His feelings were genuine. And the euphoria of that day has carried on. We were on the brink of civil war and there was huge debate as to where the country was headed. It took me time to realise it but there is no doubt in my mind that the World Cup victory, and particularly President Mandela's part in it, contributed to a peaceful transition.

The euphoria of that day carried through to help make us a fully democratic country." Francois Pienaar accepts the William Webb Ellis trophy from Nelson Mandela in 1995 Edward Griffiths, in charge of public relations and soon to become chief executive of the South African union, turned to du Plessis in the Ellis Park and remarked that 'things would never be the same again.' "I remember just before kick-off, standing in that tunnel, looking out at Ellis Park, a stadium that had played 'Die Stem,' the anthem of old South Africa, played against all edicts prior to the game against New Zealand in 1992 on the Springbok's return from isolation, and hearing this chant go up, 'Nelson! Nelson!' You have to know Ellis Park and what it represents to appreciate fully the significance of that. It sent a shiver down my spine. It was a spontaneous response to events and something which minutes before would have been considered unthinkable was actually happening." Griffiths was involved in the process by which the Springbok shirt was dispatched to the president's office on the Saturday morning of the final.

"It was a gesture that changed the country if it did not manage to change rugby," said Griffiths, now chief executive at Saracens. "It still is one of the most powerful of images for any South African. It wasn't a PR stunt. It was a genuine action on his part. Imagine if David Cameron were to appear in an England football shirt at the World Cup. He would be laughed out of the stadium. It could have been jarring for Mandela that day given the opposition from various political flanks but it wasn't. It was a profound thing. Did it change rugby? Not as much as it should have done. It was a wasted opportunity and that is because rugby leaders lacked the vision and understanding that Mandela had. But it did change the country. White people who had seen the ANC as the enemy, as a threat to their very way of life, now saw other possibilities. And the blacks who saw the Springbok jersey as a symbol of oppression now saw things differently" All those connected with South Africa and South African rugby have one clear wish for the future. "It is so important that we heed Mandela's values now that he is no longer with us as much as we did when he was among us," said Griffiths.

Joel Stransky speaks of the man as much as he does of the politician. "He had such humility and interest in people as human beings. "We have to take that with us and move on into the future. We have to take responsibility." How will you remember Nelson Mandela? Please email your tributes and memories to mandelatributes@telegraph.co.uk Mandela and the rugby hero who rejected the prejudices of a white childhood | World news | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close Among certain white communities in apartheid South Africa, it was taken for granted that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist who must remain behind bars. That was drummed into the young François Pienaar , who would one day welcome Mandela to his wedding and name him as godfather to his two sons. The men came together when Pienaar captained South Africa to victory at the 1995 Rugby World Cup . When the blond Afrikaner shook hands with the black freedom fighter turned president, they instantly forged one of the country's defining images of racial unity. "François here is the symbol of reconciliation," said Ahmed Kathrada, a fellow prisoner of Mandela on Robben Island, when he shared a platform with Pienaar at the One Young World summit in Johannesburg last October.

In an interview with the Observer, Pienaar recalled the hardline white attitudes that shaped his childhood. "In my little world, I grew up in an Afrikaner community, went to an Afrikaner school, spoke only Afrikaans. Children were seen and not heard and you believed the publicity of the day," he said. "Obviously the press told the stories that the ruling party of the day in particular wanted to be told. "I remember when I heard Nelson Mandela's name mentioned at barbecues or dinner parties, the words 'terrorist' or 'bad man' was an umbilical cord almost to his name. As a young kid I wish I'd had questions about it, but I never did. I just thought that guy's maybe not a good guy, because sadly we didn't engage with our parents. "You didn't ask questions like why black kids don't go to school with you, why is it just all white? That's how you grew up, which is very wrong and very sad. I wish I'd had the courage of conviction to ask questions, but I didn't.

It's about exposure." It was only when Pienaar went to university on a sports scholarship that he found himself exposed to different cultures, speaking English and having debates about politics and the country's future. "We'd just gone through 1985, a very dark year in South Africa's history, so it was topical at university. There were talks and rumours about Mr Mandela being released and white South Africans in particular feared the worst. "Many were very conservative South Africans who were stocking up on food, thinking it's going to be Armageddon, civil warfare. I can understand that, not that I agreed with it. They feared that if this man who had been put in jail for 27 years, and was not handled particularly well as a prisoner, comes out, he's going to be slightly peeved. "What he says the nation will do. So if Mr Mandela came out of prison and said, 'Listen, this is wrong, we're taking over the country now by force,' it would have been civil warfare. Then he came out and he didn't. The conservative people were, 'We're just waiting for this to happen'.

It never happened." Mandela's release and the fall of apartheid meant an end to international sanctions and sporting boycotts. A year after the first multiracial democratic election in 1994, the country hosted the Rugby World Cup , traditionally an Afrikaner sport that saw black people cheering for the opposition. But Mandela understood the importance of surprise and the grand gesture. He resisted pressure to scrap the springbok, the team's despised emblem, and rallied the nation around the players. "During those six weeks what happened in this country was incredible," Pienaar said. "I'm still gobsmacked when I think back to the profound change that happened. We started obviously with a great leader with a fantastic vision who realised that sport is important for the Afrikaner white community and to earn their respect and trust. "But on the other side I have such a respect for what he had to go through in the African National Congress because the springbok was a symbol of apartheid. The majority of South Africans never supported the Springboks, so to ask them to support them for the first time was a massive ask.

"Through the course of those six weeks, because he asked them and we came to the party in terms of playing good rugby and building a nice momentum towards the final, things happened in South Africa that were just magical." For the final there were 63,000 people in the stadium and 62,000 were white. With a stroke of PR genius, Mandela appeared in the green-and-gold Springbok jersey and cap: "It's well documented that Mr Mandela walked out into Ellis Park in front of a predominantly white crowd, very much an Afrikaner crowd, wearing a springbok on his heart and how they shouted, 'Nelson, Nelson, Nelson!' because what he'd promised he delivered. And when the final whistle blew this country changed for ever. It's incomprehensible." The events became the subject of a book and film, Invictus , starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman and directed by Clint Eastwood. Pienaar and Mandela became close over the years until ill health forced the latter to withdraw from public life. Last week came the sad but inevitable news of his demise.

"It's a time for celebration, celebrating what he did and what he stood for, and also time for reflection and mourning obviously," Pienaar said. "But hopefully it will be tears of joy that South Africa has been so blessed to have a man who put us on a very important road, and just hope the leaders following him will not only use his name for effect but because they truly believe in what he stood for, and build on that." Rugby in South Africa Rugby in South Africa Tweet on Twitter Rugby is one of South Africa’s big three sports, alongside soccer and cricket. For the many South African fans of the game, rugby is a serious matter, a source of bursting pride and joy – or shattering disappointment. The country has traditionally fared extremely well on the world stage, and South African fans expect their national team to win every game it plays. To help your understanding, here’s a quick guide to the game of rugby in South Africa: The changing face of South African rugby Sport, like no other South African institution, has shown it has the power to heal old wounds.

When the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup on home turf in 1995, Nelson Mandela donned the No 6 shirt of the team’s captain – Francois Pienaar, a white Afrikaner – and the two embraced in a spontaneous gesture of racial reconciliation that melted hearts around the country. A single moment, and 400 years of colonial strife and bitterness … suddenly seemed so petty. For the disadvantaged people of the old apartheid South Africa, rugby was the white man’s game, and even more so the game of the Afrikaner. Traditionally, most communities of colour played soccer while, for white communities, rugby was the winter sport of choice. Things have changed in South Africa since 1994, however, and the South African Rugby Football Union has been working hard to make rugby the game of all South Africans, mainly through an active development programme throughout the country. At provincial age-group levels, players of colour are playing an increasingly prominent role as the development programme and the quota system begin to bear fruit.

Through the quota system, players of colour are being given the opportunity to compete at the higher levels of the game, and a growing number are showing that they belong there by securing places in Super 14 teams and – the highest honour for a South African rugby player – in the Springbok side. The Springboks The Springboks are the national rugby team and traditionally one of the sport’s international powerhouses. Every talented South African youngster dreams of one day wearing “the green and gold”. The Boks have an outstanding international scoresheet, and for many years enjoyed a winning record against all other nations, until a slight slump in performances after South Africa’s return from international isolation in 1992. New Zealand’s All Blacks now hold a slight edge in head-to-head meetings with the Springboks, but the South Africans retain a winning record against all other countries. There have been five big highlights since South Africa’s return from international isolation. The first of these took place in 1995 when the country hosted rugby’s biggest tournament, the World Cup.

The Springboks made it through to the final at Ellis Park where, spurred on by a frenzied home crowd, and with the whole of South Africa willing them on, they trumped the All Blacks 15-12 in extra time to lift the sport’s most coveted trophy. The Boks’ display, opening with a win over defending champions Australia and finishing with victory over favourites New Zealand, united the country, bringing people of all colours together just a year after South Africa’s first democratic elections. The second highlight occurred in 1998, when South Africa broke New Zealand’s hold on the Tri-Nations, a competition that matches up the “big three” of the southern hemisphere, with Australia completing the trio. The Kiwis had won the first two competitions without losing a match, but Gary Teichmann’s 1998 side showed spirit and poise in winning all four of their matches to lift the title for the first time. The third highlight included the Springboks’ 1998 Tri-Nations title and went beyond it.

It was a run of 17 victories in succession, equalling the world record run by New Zealand between 1965 and 1970 (which, appropriately, was halted by South Africa). During their 1997/98 run, South Africa defeated Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy – all of them, with the exception of Italy, teams rated amongst the world’s elite. After a rough period, during which Springbok coaches came and went with alarming rapidity, Jake White was appointed coach in 2003. He would go on to lead the team in more matches than any other Springbok coach. He was also at the helm when the fourth great highlight was achieved. In October 2007, South Africa beat England 15-6 in the final of the World Cup in Paris, after advancing through the tournament unbeaten, to join Australia as the only two-time winner of the William Webb Ellis Trophy. Not long afterwards, Jake White was named International Rugby Board (IRB) Coach of the Year and Bryan Habana IRB Player of the Year.

The Springboks were named IRB Team of the Year and, at the Laureus Sports Awards in February 2008, World Sports Team of the Year. The following year they captured their third Tri-Nations title, defeating the All Blacks three times on their way to the title. They also beat the British and Irish Lions 2-1 in a three-match series. In New Zealand, in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the Springboks won all of their pool matches, defeating Wales, Namibia, Fiji, and Samoa. They exited the tournament at the quarterfinals stage, falling 11-9 to Australia, which, incredibly, was the sole statistic they trailed the Wallabies by when the match was over. Tri-Nations The Tri-Nations was an annual competition that took place in July and August from 1996 to 2011 to decide the top international team in the southern hemisphere. The competition was born of a demand for more regular competition between the southern hemisphere superpowers following the success of the 1995 World Cup.

Between them, the three competing countries – New Zealand, South Africa and Australia – have won six out of the seven World Cups contested since 1987, so to be crowned Tri-Nations champion was a great honour. Tri-Nations champions: 1996: New Zealand The Rugby Championship In 2012, the Tri-Nations competition was expanded to include Argentina and became known as the Rugby Championship. Reigning World Cup champions, New Zealand, became the first winners of the new competition. The Rugby Championship champions: 2013: New Zealand Super Rugby The Super Rugby competition features 15 regional teams from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, with each country providing five teams. The forerunner of the competition was the Super 10, contested by provincial teams from the three countries as well as Samoa in 1993 and 1994 and Tonga in 1995. In 1996, the competition became the Super 12, featuring provincial and regional teams from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, with the Tongans and Samoans falling out. Two more teams were added in 2006 and it became the Super 14.

The Super Rugby competition begins in February and runs through until August. Five South African teams are selected from the Sharks (made up of players from the Natal Sharks), the Stormers (made up of players from Western Province and Boland), the Cheetahs (made up of players from the Cheetahs, Griquas and Griffons), the Lions (made up of players from the Lions, Pumas and Leopards), the Bulls (made up of players from the Blue Bulls and Falcons) and the Southern Kings (made up of players from the Kings, Bulldogs and Eagles) Back in 1993, the team then known as Transvaal (now the Lions) beat New Zealand team Auckland to win the first Super 10 competition. But it was to be a long wait for local fans for the next South African Super rugby winner: until 2007, when the Bulls scored a converted try after the final hooter to sneak a 20-19 win against the Sharks in Durban. Super Rugby champions: 1993: Transvaal (SA) Currie Cup The Currie Cup, the premier provincial rugby competition in South Africa, was first contested in 1892.

The format of the Currie Cup varied from year to year, and finals were held intermittently until 1968, after which the final became an annual event. Up to and including 2011, the most successful province in the history of the Currie Cup is Western Province with 32 titles (four shared), followed by the Blue Bulls with 23 (four shared), the Lions with 10 (one shared), the Natal Sharks with six, and the Cheetahs with four (one shared). Other teams that have lifted the trophy include Griquas (three times) and Border (twice, both shared). For many years the biggest rivalry in South African rugby was between Western Province and the Blue Bulls. During the early to mid-1990s this was superseded by a three-way rivalry between Natal, the Lions and Western Province. The Blue Bulls have returned to Currie Cup prominence, however, while the Free State Cheetahs won three titles in succession, from 2005 to 2007, including sharing the Currie Cup with the Blue Bulls in 2006. The Currie Cup takes place roughly between July and October.

The format divides 14 teams into eight Premier Division and six First Division teams. The teams, in alphabetical order, are: Blue Bulls, Boland Cavaliers, Border Bulldogs, Eagles, Falcons, Free State Cheetahs, Golden Lions, Griffons, Griquas, Leopards, Mighty Elephants, Natal Sharks, Pumas and Western Province. Currie Cup champions (since 1994): 2013: Natal Sharks 1994: Transvaal Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup has become an important competition on the South African rugby calendar. It takes place at the same time as the Super 14 competition – starting in late February and finishing in mid-May – and thus creates a platform for talented young players who might otherwise not get a chance to make their mark. It has also been a fertile breeding ground for strong players from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, thanks to the enforcement of quotas. Quotas, successfully implemented lower down, now extend through the higher levels of South African rugby, including the Super 14.

The Vodacom Cup is divided into two sections – North and South – with the top two teams advancing to the semi-finals and playing cross-section matches of one- versus-two for a place in the final. The North is made up of the Griffons, Pumas, Golden Lions, Griquas, Blue Bulls, Leopards XV, Valke, and the Limpopo Blue Bulls. The South’s teams are the Sharks XV, Free State XV, Western Province, Tusker Simba XV (Kenya), SWD Eagles, EP Kings, Boland Cavaliers, and Border. Since the first Vodacom Cup season in 1998, up to and including 2014, the Golden Lions have won four titles, including a hat-trick from 2002 to 2004, while Griquas have also claimed four titles. The Golden Lions have taken the honours on five occasions, while there have also been titles for and Blue Bulls , the Falcons, Western Province, Griqualand West, Free State Cheetahs and Argentina’s Pampas XV.

Vodacom Cup champions: 1995 Rugby World Cup: Results, Teams, Records, Venues in South Africa Disclaimer Close Disclaimer : All efforts have been made to make this image accurate. However Compare Infobase Limited,its directors and employees do not own any responsibility for the correctness or authenticity of the same. The 1995 Rugby World Cup or the Webb Ellis Cup was held in South Africa in the months of May and June and was the first to be hosted by any single nation. The first Rugby World Cup was held in the year 1987 in Australia and New Zealand and the second in 1991 saw main host England join hands with Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France to stage the matches. The 1995 edition was the first Rugby World Cup for the hosts South Africa and the expectation in the country was really high. The 1995 Rugby World Cup had 16 participating nations participating nations fighting for the trophy. Eight quarter-finalists from the earlier World Cup and the hosts South Africa gained automatic entry while the remaining teams of the total 16 positions to be filled in were chosen through regional qualifying rounds .

The teams were grouped under four Pools and each pool had two automatically qualified teams and two teams who have played the qualifying tournament. After the group leg matches, the top two teams of each group advanced to the Quarter Finals and the winners of the four matches there advanced to the semifinal to face each other there. South Africa and New Zealand were the two teams to play in the final in which the hosts defeated the Kiwis through an extra-time goal. Rugby World Cup 1995 : Rugby World Cup | Welsh Rugby Union | Official Website Rugby World Cup History Rugby World Cup 1995 The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the first in the tournament's history to be staged by one country in one country. With the end of South Africa's international sports boycott came their first chance of involvement within the tournament they voted to create ten years previously. Furthermore, South Africa would not only participate for the first time, they would also stage the event for the first time. The South African national team adopted the slogan 'one team, one nation' for the tournament. Rugby union, eternally seen as a 'white man's sport', sought to unite a country that had been racially divided for nearly half a century.

South Africa, as host nation, opened the tournament against defending champions Australia. With the weight of the nation's expectations on their shoulders the South Africans secured a 27-18 victory in the euphoric atmosphere at Newlands in Cape Town. Forty-five teams fought it out in the qualifying process to guarantee a place in the 16-side tournament. Wales, the only Five Nations country to have to do so, qualified after one-sided, high-scoring games against Portugal and Spain before entering a second qualification phase. Wales won a closer match with Romania 9-16, thanks to a superb try from Ieuan Evans, and a 29-19 victory over Italy in Cardiff put them into the supposedly easier Pool C. Other qualifiers for the tournament included the Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Argentina, Canada, Japan, Romania, Italy and Tonga. England, France, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Western Samoa and Australia automatically qualified for the competition having reached at least the quarter-final stage in the tournament four years previously. The pool stages failed to present any giant-killing encounters as had happened in the previous rugby world cup.

In Pool A, hosts South Africa and defending champions Australia made the quarter-finals. Canada could not replicate their superb performance in the previous tournament, and limped out of the competition alongside underdogs Romania, who only achieved nine points in total in the group stages. Pool B saw England and the impressive Western Samoa graduate to the next stage in the competition, whilst Italy and Argentina failed to progress. Pool C threw up the most striking result from the pool stages. New Zealand, albeit a second-string team, dominated Japan in a 145-17 rout. This remains the highest score and biggest winning margin in the history of the Rugby World Cup. Inevitably, Japan had an early exit and the All Blacks made the quarter-finals, as did Ireland, who put Wales out of the competition. In another disappointing championship for Wales, despite a 57-10 trouncing of Japan, this was the second successive Rugby World Cup in which Wales made a premature departure. As host nation in four years time the Welsh did not have the anxiety of qualifying to worry about; all apprehension could be instead reserved for the state of Welsh rugby. Pool D will be forever remembered with sadness.

Tragically, in the Côte d'Ivoire's loss to Tonga, winger Max Brito was paralysed following a neck injury in a sixth-minute tackle. Both teams went home after the pool stage, with France and Scotland booking their quarter-final places. The quarter-finals were dominated by the larger rugby nations; only Western Samoa could be classed in the category of 'the underdogs'. After qualifying against South Africa, for the second successive tournament they were to reach no further than the quarter-final stages. The Springboks conquered 42-14 amid a game full of fierce, and questionable, Western Samoan tackling as seen four years previously. England, grand slam winners of the Five Nations Championship just a few months prior to the start of the Rugby World Cup, again encountered Australia in the latter stages of the competition. They had met in the final in the previous tournament and had not met since on the international stage. In the stand-out quarter-final of the championship the match proved captivating, featuring two equally matched and highly-motivated teams.

England took an early 13-3 lead but Lynagh, one of the survivors and stars of the Rugby World Cup in 1991, levelled the scores soon after the intermission with his precision kicking. In this game he would reach the 900 points-mark, the first man to reach this tally in Test rugby. Australia pulled away with a try, but Rob Andrew, a match for Lynagh, steadily brought the scores even once more at 22-22. Three minutes into injury time following a superb English drive, Andrew was passed the ball. He set up for a drop goal attempt and triumphed, as did the rest of the England camp, as they sailed into the semi-finals 25-22 and sent the defending championships out of the tournament. France met Ireland in the only quarter-final to feature two Northern Hemisphere nations. In a dismal match the French eventually dominated the play in the final quarter to take the score to 36-12. The French manager summed up his team's attitude and performance when he commented: "We may at some stage be able to drink champagne, but for the moment, we are struggling to get the cork out of the bottle".

The remaining quarter-final saw New Zealand overcome Scotland 48-30 in Pretoria. In a free-flowing game in which the might of Jonah Lomu was unleashed, the All Blacks notched up six tries to Scotland's three. Gaining his one hundredth cap, captain Sean Fitzpatrick scored one of the six whilst Andrew Mehrtens secured 23 points for the Kiwis. Despite putting thirty points on the board, Scotland for the second time in the tournament's history went home at the quarter-final stage at the hands of the New Zealand. In the first of the Northern-Southern Hemisphere semi-final clashes to be held, the hosts took on the French. In unplayable conditions, after the torrential rain had turned the pitch into a lake-like semblance, the Springboks ground out a 19-15 win. Joel Stransky took South Africa into the lead with a penalty and soon after the Springboks crossed for the only try of the game. Ruben Kruger got the score and Stransky converted to push the lead to 10-0. Thierry Lacroix slotted over two penalties to reduce the gap to four points at the interval.

In the second half Stranksy added three more penalties and Lacroix also gained another nine points for his country. Despite growing French dominance the Springboks retained their lead and entered a Rugby World Cup final for the first time. The second semi saw New Zealand pitted against the team, the All Black camp had admitted, they feared most: England. Having lost to England 15-9 in 1993, the New Zealand team were wary of a determined, on-form English side. Despite this, the match as a contest was over inside ten minutes. The magnificence of the powerful All Blacks start completely devastated England. The New Zealand dominance in the opening minutes meant that England failed to establish themselves and fought to achieve a foothold for the rest of the game. The first New Zealand try came after a mere two minutes. Lomu was released; he strode like an animal towards the line, pawing away Rory Underwood, outpacing captain Will Carling and running straight through Mike Catt to touch down for the first five points of the match. On the re-start Walter Little gathered up a loose ball from Bachop.

This quickly made its way to Josh Kronfeld, and soon after was deposited for another All Black try. The normally dependable Rob Andrews missed a penalty and drop goal before the New Zealand rout continued. Carling cleared into New Zealand territory but the ball was snatched by Zinzan Brooke, dropping a goal where Andrews had failed. Lomu scored his second try of the game; the All Blacks had scored 25 points in the same of minutes. Andrew secured England's first three points before the half-time whistle but with tries in quick succession from Lomu, again, and Bachop shortly after the interval the all Black lead was stretched even further. England did recover to some extent in the second half. Carling and Underwood each scored a brace of tries and Andrew secured three conversions. His opposite number Mehrtens converted only three of six tries but he added a penalty and drop goal for good measure. Lomu finished his personal rout of the English with his fourth try of the match. The final score saved England's blushes at 29-45 but betrayed the way in which they had been utterly crushed in the first half.

England limped out of the 1995 tournament, unable to make the final as they had done four years previously. Lomu's four-try wreckage of England sent shock waves through World Rugby. New Zealand commentator, Keith Quinn, was famously reduced to gasps as Lomu shattered England's backline. Lomu, through his spectacular strength and powerful attacking became the star player the 1995 Rugby World Cup. England made their way into the third place play off with France. In previous tournaments this match had proved to be a mediocre event with neither team eager to play. In order to create a sense of occasion the match had an added incentive: the carrot of automatic qualification for the 1999 tournament was placed on the stick for the two teams, as after this tournament only the hosts, finalists and third place nation would have their place guaranteed. However, the match turned out to be as damp a squib as the previous two affairs. Lacroix and Andrews gained only three points for their sides in the first half and after 50 minutes of play each player had only added a further penalty apiece.

Lacroix secured a further three points but, possibly due to the growing boredom and resultant slow hand-clapping from the crowd, France stepped up a gear. A midfield run from Laurent Cabannes set up Philippe Saint-Andre. From a line-out following a tackle on the French captain, France drove forward and Olivier Roumat secured the score. Emile Ntamack, having had a hand in creating the first try, secured France's second. By-passing Underwood and Catt, just as Lomu had done in England's previous game, the flanker, easily the best player of the match, touched down. With Andrew's third penalty the only other English score of the match, France gained a 9-19 win that took them into the 1999 Rugby World Cup via a direct route. The final between South Africa and New Zealand was staged at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Many felt, none more so than the South African camp, that the Rugby World Cup Champion title was lessened in superiority whilst the South Africans were in the wilderness. South Africa now had their chance to back-up this statement. Arguably, events following the result were more significant than the actual game.

No tries were scored during the match but this did not diminish the tense atmosphere and climactic finish. The South Africans played a largely defensive game. Due to the strength from Kruger, captain Francios Pienaar and van der Westhuizen, the expansive attacks from New Zealand were repeatedly closed down. Stransky had secured nine points for his team before the interval whilst Mehrtens gained only six. He amended this at the mid point of the second half with a drop goal taking the score to 9-9. Yet crucially he failed to take his team into the lead after missing an attempt at goal just before the close of normal play. As referee Ed Morrison heralded full time the teams headed into extra time for the first time in a Rugby World Cup final. Mehrtens made amends for his miss by striking a long-range penalty in the first period. As the minutes slowly passed, Stransky levelled for the South Africans. Seven minutes from time it was Stransky who scored the final points of the match. From thirty metres out he struck the drop goal, securing South Africa's victory and the Rugby World Championship crown.

President Mandela, wearing a Springbok cap and jersey adorned with Pienaar's No.6, presented the Web Ellis Cup to the South African captain. In front of a capacity crowd the former political prisoner of twenty-six years, jailed for his anti-apartheid activities, wore the green and gold jersey that had previously been a symbol of white superiority. This historic image of a Mandela presenting the trophy to the Francois Pienaar encapsulated the country's vision of a rainbow nation together with their slogan, 'one team, one nation'. Rugby Football History All Blacks Barbarians Canada British & Irish Lions Ireland Scotland Springboks USA Wales Wallabies Rugby World Cup (RWC) is administered by Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL), a subsidiary of the International Rugby Board (IRB). The IRB is a non-profit making organisation. All revenue generated through its activity is placed back in the game of Rugby. Rugby World Cup is the primary source of revenue for the funding of Rugby development worldwide. Ninety-five percent of all money distributed by the IRB worldwide for development comes from RWC revenue. These funds underpin the IRB's strategic investments programme including High Performance funding and development grants.

The first RWC was held in New Zealand and Australia in 1987. The six tournaments to date are: How it all began The IRB held their annual board meeting on 20-21st March 1985 at the French Railways HQ in Paris. Each member nation had a single vote and the motion was carried 6 (Australia, England, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales) to 2 (Ireland and Scotland). It would be staged jointly by Australia and New Zealand from the 22nd May to the 20th June 1987. This gave the two host nations approx. two years to prepare. Read the full story It may also interest you to know that Rugby League's World Cup was first held in 1954. Read more World Cup Finals Estimated £80 million net surplus boost to the Game. Loss of NZ $31.3 million, NZ $8 million lower than forecast The Famous Whistle The first game of every world cup to date has been started by the same whistle.

The whistle is nearly 100 years old and bears an inscription saying it was used by Gil Evans in the Test match between New Zealand and England in December 1905, a match the All Blacks won 15-0. This piece of rugby history is also believed to have been used by Albert E. Freethy in the final of the 1924 Olympics in Paris when the United States beat hosts France 17-13 at the Colombes Stadium - the last time the sport of rugby union featured in the Games. A year later Freethy blew the whistle to dismiss Cyril Brownlie in the Test between New Zealand and England at Twickenham in January 1925, making him the first player to be sent off in an international match. The whistle has been housed in the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North since 16 April 1969 when they held their inaugural function, having been given by Stan Dean, who for many years was the chairman of the NZRFU and manager of the 1924/25 All Blacks.

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | South Africa bids for World Cup South Africa bids for World Cup The Springboks won the World Cup when South Africa last hosted in 1995 South Africa has joined the race to host the Rugby World Cups in either 2015 or 2019. The South Africa Rugby Union delivered its application to the International Rugby Board on Thursday, ahead of the Friday, 8 May deadline. They plan to use the stadia being built for football's 2010 World Cup finals, with the opening match and final at the 90,000-capacity Soccer City complex. The 1995 hosts face stiff competition from England to stage the 2015 event. But if they are unsuccessful in tabling the winning bid, they have also confirmed their intention to run for the 2019 tournament after South Africa's newly-elected Jacob Zuma-led government agreed to underwrite the costs of staging the finals.

SARU president Oregan Hoskins said: "The government has been very supportive and they have provided the financial backing to allow us to complete a compelling case to bring the rugby World Cup back home." The financial cost of staging the World Cup has already ended bids from Australia, Scotland and Ireland after they said it would be too expensive to host. 606: DEBATE The only opposition I can realistically see to England's bid is SA oldfatprop The IRB want the host nations to stump up £80m for the privilege of staging the 2015 World Cup and £96m for the 2019 tournament. But with South Africa already spending billions of pounds on new stadia for the 2010 football World Cup, the infrastructure will be in place for 2015, meaning one less additional cost for the SARU. "The legacy of that tournament offers rugby an incredible opportunity to put on a spectacular tournament in ideal conditions," said bid committee chairman Mark Alexander. SARU will present its bid, along with England, to the IRB Council in Dublin on Wednesday, 13 May.

The IRB will vote on the hosts for both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups on 28 July. New Zealand will stage the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Bookmark with: How Nelson Mandela won the rugby World Cup - Telegraph How Nelson Mandela won the rugby World Cup Francois Pienaar receives the rugby World Cup from Nelson Mandela in 1995 John Carlin 12:02AM BST 19 Oct 2007 The last time South Africa made the rugby final its new black president congratulated the Springboks' white captain - and the Rainbow Nation was born, recalls John Carlin By a series of odd coincidences I found myself in Mississippi one evening in June last year sitting in someone's lounge with Morgan Freeman. I said to him, only three-quarters jokingly, "Mr Freeman, I have a film for you." "Oh yes," he said, "what's it about?" "It's about an event that distils the essence of Nelson Mandela 's genius and the essence of the South African miracle." Related Articles "Do you mean the rugby game?" he said. "Yes, I do," I replied.

"The 1995 rugby World Cup final." In the 16 months since that Mississippi encounter, I have written a book about all this; Freeman has announced he is going to play Mandela in a film based on the book, to be directed in all likelihood by Clint Eastwood; and South Africa have made it to the World Cup final again, with an elderly Mandela hoping to be in attendance – as he was, to sensational effect, in 1995. Quite why it was so sensational is what my book is about. The short answer is that it was on that day that he captured the hearts of white South Africa. The rugby game was the orgiastic conclusion of the most unlikely exercise in political seduction ever undertaken. When Mandela was arrested in 1962, he was founder and commander in chief of the military wing of the African National Congress, Umkhonto we Sizwe, regarded by the generality of white South Africans as a terrorist organisation hell-bent on destroying their supremely privileged way of life.

The image of Mandela as the embodiment of white South Africa's worst fears endured during the 27 years he spent in jail – as it did for the rugby-loving Afrikaner rump on February 11, 1990, the day he walked out of prison. Three and half years later – two years before the rugby World Cup – tens of thousands of Afrikaners were bracing themselves for war. United under the banner of the far right Volksfront, they vowed to stop Mandela from taking power. They did not succeed, largely because Mandela secretly invited their leaders to his home for tea and persuaded them, over time, to abandon their guns. A good half of the aspirant Boer freedom-fighters did not agree with their leaders, which meant that after Mandela became president in May 1994 the prospect of Boer terrorism remained alarmingly real. With far more people trained in how to make war than the IRA ever had, they had it in them to undermine the stability of the post-apartheid democracy and do terrible damage to the economy.

That was why Mandela set it as his number one strategic priority during his five-year presidency to cement, as he put it, the foundations of the new South Africa; to reconcile whites with the black majority to whom they had done so much harm. It was a Herculean political challenge but in the World Cup, to be played in South Africa a year after he came to power, Mandela saw an opportunity not to be missed. The ANC had spent years using rugby as a stick with which to beat white people (talk to any prominent Afrikaner from those days and they'll tell you how much the international rugby boycott hurt); Mandela said, why not use it now as a carrot? Why not use the Springbok team to unite the most divided nation on earth around a common goal? So, barely a month after he had taken office, he invited François Pienaar, the Springbok captain, for tea at his office in Pretoria. He wooed him instantly ("I felt like a wide-eyed kid listening to an old man telling stories," Pienaar told me) and, without the big blond son of apartheid quite knowing it yet, recruited him to the new South Africa cause.

Mandela's challenges did not only lie on the white side of the apartheid fence. He had to do some tough political persuasion among his own black supporters too. They had been brought up to detest rugby. Next to the old anthem and the old flag, there existed no more repellent symbol of apartheid than the green Springbok shirt. That was why the blacks-only pens at rugby stadiums were always full on international match days, cheering the Springboks' opponents. But Mandela set himself the mission of converting black South Africans to the perplexing notion that "the Boks belonged to all of us now", as he put it to me. And this even though he knew that the team for the 1995 World Cup would be all white, with the possible exception of a "coloured" wing called Chester Williams. "They booed me! " Mandela recalled, chuckling only long after the event. "My own people, they booed me when I stood before them, urging them to support the Springboks!" But eventually, Mandela being a natural-born persuader and black South Africans an amazingly forgiving lot, he achieved his goal.

Come the morning of the final, on June 24, 1995, black South Africans were as excited as their white compatriots, and as desperate to see the Amabokoboko (as the Sowetan newspaper dubbed the national team) win. Pienaar and company deserved much of the credit for this. The clever, politically sharp CEO of the South African rugby union, Edward Griffiths, had come up with a slogan that was brilliant in its simplicity: "One Team, One Country. " Morné du Plessis, a former Springbok captain and now team manager, had worked hard to make the players see that they had a role to play in helping Mandela unite the country. It was du Plessis who arranged for the players to learn the old song of black resistance, now the new national anthem, Nkosi Sikelele Afrika (God Bless Africa). At a choir session in Cape Town, the Springbok players belted out the black song with feeling, the vast second-row Boer Kobus Wiese leading the choral charge.

As the World Cup unfolded, following a great inaugural victory by South Africa over Australia, the players as well as the white fans were struck by the growing enthusiasm of the hitherto rugby-illiterate black population. The sight of those vast Boers singing their song at the start of each game and then winning it was a combination increasingly difficult for black South Africans to resist. This in turn nourished the Afrikaners' budding sense of new South African fellow feeling. Mandela's coup de grâce, the final submission of white South Africa to his charms, came minutes before the final itself when the old terrorist-in-chief went on to the pitch to shake hands with the players dressed in the colours of the ancient enemy, the green Springbok shirt. For a moment, Ellis Park Stadium, 95 per cent white on the day, stood in dumb, disbelieving silence. Then someone took up a cry that others followed, ending in a thundering roar: "Nel-son! Nel-son! Nel-son!" And that was almost it. White South Africa had crowned Mandela king with the fervour black South Africa had done five years earlier at a stadium in Soweto, in the week after his release.

But there was still the matter of a game to be played against a formidable New Zealand team – and, in the view of every sane rugby pundit alive, the Springboks didn't stand a chance. They were wrong. With Mandela playing as an invisible 16th man, Joel Stransky, the one Jewish player in the Springbok team, kicked the winning drop goal in extra time. Mandela emerged again, still in his green jersey, and, to even louder cries of "Nel-son! Nel-son!", walked on to the pitch to shake the hand of François Pienaar. As he prepared to hand over the cup to his captain, he said: "François, thank you for what you have done for our country." Pienaar, with extraordinary presence of mind, replied: "No, Mr President. Thank you for what you have done." I spoke to a friend, a white, anti-apartheid veteran who was in the thick of the Boer throng at the stadium that day. As he put it: "There wasn't a dry eye in the house." There wasn't a dry eye in the country. Everybody celebrated. Every township, every white suburb: one country at last.

Has the goodwill endured? Of course not. That intensity of Utopian unity would have been impossible to sustain anywhere, much less in a country with a history. But Mandela did succeed in his great presidential mission. From that day on, the violent Right barely uttered a squeak; the logic of white counter-revolution never materialised; South Africa was more stable than at any point since the arrival of the first white settlers in 1652. And that remains true today, even if President Thabo Mbeki (wily political operator though he is) is not remotely in Mandela's class as a man, even if South Africa is beset by problems regarding crime, education, housing and health that assail so many other countries like it. Whether things in South Africa will improve, or over time go the way of Zimbabwe, no one can know. What should last forever (and a film by Clint Eastwood ought to help ensure that it does) is the example of magnanimity that Mandela has left as his legacy for his country and the world.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a lifelong rugby fan who will be hoping the 16th man will work his magic again tomorrow, got it right when I asked him what the significance of that 1995 rugby World Cup final had been. "The lesson is simple and wonderfully encouraging," Tutu said. "If it happened once, it can happen again." • John Carlin reported on South Africa's transformation in the 1990s as a Johannesburg bureau chief. His book, 'The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Saved South Africa', will be published next year by Penguin Press

Question: Who hosted and won the 1995 Rugby Union World Cup?
Answer: South Africa