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A signed South Africa rugby shirt from the 1995 Rugby World Cup final – immortalised in the film Invictus – has sold at auction in Cirencester.
The South Africa shirt featuring the signatures of the starting team, substitutes, and backroom staff – together with other rugby memorabilia – hammered down at £750.
The jersey is the same as those worn in the 1995 final by the South Africa team that narrowly beat hot favourites New Zealand by 15 points to 12 in Johannesburg. The final was attended by South African president Nelson Mandela as he strove to unite a divided country after the abolition of Apartheid.
The story of South Africa’s unlikely triumph was portrayed in a 2009 Clint Eastwood-directed blockbuster with Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Springboks captain Francois Pienaar.
The film’s title was taken from the Victorian poem Invictus, by Gloucestershire poet William Ernest Henley, a favourite of Mandela’s while he was serving a prison sentence in the notorious Robben Island jail. It contains the memorable line ‘I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul’. In the movie, Mandela gives Pienaar a copy of the poem to inspire his team to glory.
The Cotswold Auction Company director, Lindsey Braune, said: “The 1995 Rugby World Cup final is one of those iconic sporting moments that everybody remembers. South Africa were the underdogs to tournament favourites New Zealand, but pulled off a historic and unexpected win with a late drop goal to seal the victory 15-12. I’m sure the buyer of this signed shirt will feel just as invincible as those South Africa rugby legends when he pulls on the jersey for the first time.”
