Invictus set to be 'spine-chilling stuff'

With the Invictus premier now just a couple of days away now, rugby365.com spoke to former Springbok captain and World Cup winner Francois Pienaar about the Clint Eastwood-directed Hollywood blockbuster.

Pienaar, speaking exclusively to rugby365.com before heading off to Los Angeles for the big premier last Friday, admitted that he was very interested to see exactly how the film would turn out on the big screen.

Hollywood A-list star Matt Damon is of course the man who was tasked with playing the role of the Springbok captain and, despite being a few inches shorter than the former Transvaal flank, is believed to have done a pretty good job in the No.6 jersey.

The movie will appear on South African cinema screens across the country on Friday, December 11, and has got both rugby and movie fans alike eagerly anticipating its release.

Then still a country very much divided by its apartheid past, the 1995 RWC offered South Africa a unique opportunity – an opportunity to put politics to one side and focus on the one thing which unites people more than anything else, sport.

Of course, whilst trying to shift the focus of the film away from himself, Pienaar’s pride in having been involved in the 1995 World Cup is very clear whenever he talks about the epic experience.

Now, having been involved at arm’s length during the making of the blockbuster, he admitted that he was looking forward to seeing how Hollywood would depict this famous chapter in the Springbok saga.

“Yes of course [I’m looking forward to it], it’s going to be interesting to see how the movie sits together,” Pienaar told this website.

He added: “It’s a movie about ‘Madiba’ (Nelson Mandela) and the ’95 Springboks and the management. It’s about how we were fortunate enough to unite a nation.

“It was a very, very special time in all our lives, so it’s with great excitement that we wait to see the movie and how Hollywood will represent what happened during that time in South Africa.

“I’m sure it’s going to be spine-chilling stuff!”

Legendary Hollywoord actor Morgan Freeman also stars in the movie, playing the part of the then South African President Nelson Mandela – who, today, remains an icon to all South Africans and people across the globe.

by Peter Murison