Although I am not a fan of the 'Boks, I decided to watch the newly-released film Invictus because I would watch films directed by Clint Eastwood as a matter of course.
In 1995 South Africa beat New Zealand to win the World Cup, when all odds seemed to be against them. The film is as much about Nelson Mandela as it is about Francois Pienaar, the captain of the 'Boks at the time, and how Mandela inspired Pienaar to lead his team to victory.
I won't dwell too much on the film; it is a good watch even for non-rugby fans (a few technical errors in the film when it came to rugby itself, quite an irony really) and it is worth the price of the ticket. I believe anyone can relate to a tale of the underdog team triumphing and the indefatigable human spirit that is Nelson Mandela.
It was the poem upon which the film is based that brought to mind times spent in libraries, gradually getting lost in volumes of poetry. I wrap up a quiet weekend with Henley's 'Invictus', the last two lines of which have been my life's motto since I was 15.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of fate
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years finds
And shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.