South Africa – 1995 – Rugby – World Cup – Commemorative Series – 1oz Proof Gold

South Africa – 1995 – Rugby – World Cup – Commemorative Series

The Rugby World Cup under Nelson Mandela’s presidency in 1995 in South Africa.

This edition was minted in a very limited edition of just 406 pieces to commemorate the Rugby World Cup in South Africa, which the Springboks won against the All Blacks (New Zealand) in the final at Ellis Park. The winning players all received a copy.

Back: Rugby World Cup symbol (left). Player with ball in hand, repeat and fade to third player.

A few details:

Mint: SA Mint
Year of mintage: 1995
Country: South Africa
Troy Weight: 1 oz
Gross weight: 31.107g
Fineness: 999.9
Edition: 406
Packing: Case
Embossing Quality: Proof
Original certificate: yes

About history:

On June 24, 1995, South Africa won the Rugby World Cup 15-12 against its arch-rival, All Blacks, New Zealand at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. Ellis Park Stadium is a rugby union and club soccer stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The stadium was the most modern in the country when it was expanded in 1982 to seat nearly 60,000 people. Today it hosts both soccer and rugby matches and is also used for other large events such as open-air concerts. It has become synonymous with rugby, as the only time rugby was not played at Ellis Park was in 1980 and 1981, when the stadium was under construction during modernization.

The match was a symbolic moment in South African history. It was the country’s first major sporting event since the end of the apartheid regime in 1991. And in a masterful act of statesmanship that took place right in the international spotlight, President Nelson Mandela staged a show of unity in one of the world’s most divided nations with the slogan “One Team, One Country.” (translated, “One Team, One Country”), President Mandela put on a show of unity in one of the most divided nations in the world.

Reality, however, proved to be far more complicated than the staging.

The severe human rights violations of apartheid had long made South Africa an international pariah. In 1973, a UN resolution declared apartheid a “crime against humanity.” From 1964 to 1992, the country was excluded from the Olympics, and its rugby team was kept out of the first two World Cups in ’87 and ’91. For black South Africans, the historically white team – along with its green and gold colors and Springbok mascot – had become a symbol of oppressive white minority rule.

President Nelson Mandela saw rugby as a way to bridge the divide between black and white South Africans and foster a shared national pride. Sport had previously exerted a unifying force among the country’s competing colonial powers. A 1906 tour of the British Isles by the Springboks proudly featured players from both sides of the bitter Boer War (1899-1902) between the English and Afrikaners, including one who had been imprisoned in a British concentration camp. To heal the wounds, Mandela, who himself had served 27 years in prison for challenging the white minority-led apartheid system, first had to acknowledge and address the widespread pain and division that apartheid had caused.

South Africa won the match June 24, 1995, by three points in its first Rugby World Cup final, which was also the first to require extra time. Unusually, the points were scored by only one player from each team. New Zealand’s Andrew Mehrtens scored all 12 points for the All Blacks (three penalties and a drop goal) and Joel Stransky scored all 15 points (three penalties and two drop goals) for the Springboks, including a drop goal in overtime that sealed victory and their first ever Rugby World Cup title.

After the match, South African President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and number 6 Springbok cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain François Pienaar.

Mandela and Pienaar’s involvement in the 1995 World Cup became the subject of Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated film “Invictus” (2009), starring Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar. Chester Williams, a member of the 1995 World Cup winning team and the only black player on the 1995 Springbok team was there as a technical advisor.