Tag: RWC

Parks – King – Madiba

2025 freedom

If you have seen the movie Invictus you know the significance of the South African no. 7 shirt at the Rugby World Cup 1995 and what it meant for the South African nation in general, and Nelson Mandela in particular.  This photo was taken at the RWC twenty years later when Francois Piennar (the captain of the Springbok team in 1995 and wearer of the no.7) was inducted in the World Rugby Hall of Fame. I was high up but I caught a glimpse of Piennar and the huge screen showed him as well.

2025 freedom c

2025 freedom b

Nelson Mandela’s autobiography is called Long Walk to Freedom, and he was certainly a man who wanted to be free, who gained his freedom, so other people would be free.

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.

 Rosa Parks

Click here to find more photos inspired by Rosa Parks’ quote on Travel with Intent.

Well, it happened …

Lothar interviewed by the SABC

In 2015, my husband and I went to the Rugby World Championship in the UK.  We saw two games: South Africa vs. Samoa in Birmingham, and South Africa vs. Scotland in Newcastle.

It was an unexpected and unlikely coincidence that we met a cameraman working for the SABC in Birmingham while sightseeing in town, a day before the game.  It was quite unlikely that we would meet him again in Newcastle, this time with his whole team trying to catch interesting shots and interviews with fans, again a day before the game.  But the cameraman recognised my husband with whom he had talked for awhile privately a week earlier, and so he came to be interviewed by South African television. But it was even more unlikely that a South African friend actually saw the clip, barely a minute long, tucked away in a late-night special human interest slot about the RWC.

But the most unlikely would be if we ever see people dressed up more patriotic than the South African fans on this day.  The most impressive ones were the “cross dressers” – fans who combined Scottish and South African elements in their attire:

For The Daily Post: Unlikely.

More unlikely shots are linked here.

PS: Sorry, I can’t get rid of the second lot of picture. They don’t show up in editing mode.