Andrew Austin: That's one for the Boks

Matt Damon stars in Invictus. Photo / Supplied

South Africa will probably never achieve a sporting triumph like the 1995 Rugby World Cup, unless the national soccer side, affectionately known as Bafana Bafana - (the boys), do the unthinkable and win the football World Cup later this year.

The sheer joy and raw emotion on the streets of Johannesburg after the hard-fought Springbok victory over the All Blacks make it a time which will remain etched in my memory.

It is a cliche, but apart from the first democratic election in 1994, it is the one event that united the country. The street I was in, Corlett Drive in Johannesburg, erupted into a spontaneous street party with hooters blaring and strangers hugging. Black housekeepers and white madams, white businessmen and black taxi drivers, all celebrated their team's triumph against the odds.

In hindsight, the event and Nelson Mandela's role in inspiring the national team was a dead sitter for a Hollywood movie. The Clint Eastwood-directed Invictus is a stirring drama which quite accurately captures the mood of South Africa during that time of victory, but it does use broad brushstrokes where finesse was required.

Obviously it is a tough ask making a movie about the colonial sport of rugby that will appeal to the mass American market, but it does help having a living legend like Mandela as the main subject and two Hollywood greats in Eastwood and Morgan Freeman guiding the movie.

Unfortunately, this is not a movie many New Zealanders will pay money to see, given the painful memories and the conspiracy theory that the All Blacks were poisoned in some way. Local reviewers have made fun of how the film depicts the games and the star players.

This is sad because Invictus is more than just a rugby movie. Just because Mandela and the Springboks are the heroes, does not mean the All Blacks were the enemy. The enemy in the title of the book the film is based on, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, were those standing in Mandela's way, not the Springboks' opponents.

For Clint Eastwood the storyline was simple - Nelson Mandela uses the game (rugby) of the enemy (Afrikaners) to unify a divided nation, inspiring reluctant players to bring about the unity.

In reality it was not as simple as that. Mandela did not orchestrate the World Cup victory, but he does deserve credit for inspiring many people not interested in rugby to support the Springboks.

The movie also does Springbok captain Francois Pienaar a bit of a disservice. Matt Damon is brilliant as Pienaar, overcoming a height disadvantage and mastering a difficult accent, but he does not quite capture his leadership qualities.

Pienaar was not a reluctant convert - far from it, he was enthusiastic about the New South Africa and was astute enough to realise that the future of rugby in South Africa depended on black people buying into it.

At times in the movie, Pienaar comes across as not quite having the support of his team, when in reality what drove the team to success was their unquestioning support of and faith in their captain.

In this the movie fails.

Also, the role of team manager Morne du Plessis, who coined the One Team, One Nation slogan, and the tactical nous of coach Kitch Christie are glossed over.

But overall Invictus is an outstanding success and its attention to detail is what makes it work on so many levels. Freeman's portrayal of Mandela, down to his characteristic mouth twitch; the Springboks' affectionate nickname of "Cappy" for Pienaar and the delightful interaction between a black streetkid and white policemen bring this movie alive.

Hopefully it will also give South Africans renewed hope and inspiration for their country. It certainly deserves that.