Brendan Gallagher continues his expert and authorative look at the history of Rugby Union

THE 1995 World Cup is a story we never tire of. Nelson Mandela, elected as South Africa’s first president only a year earlier, rises above 20 years of imprisonment by his white oppressors and adopts the Springboks as his team thus sending out a powerful message to the black majority in the rainbow nation who are ‘on show’ to the rest of the world for the five weeks of the tournament. And then the hosts only go and win it! Joy unconfined. Smiles and optimism replace tears and trepidati...