Sirsh's Scribbles: The Ellis Park Story
It showed guts, glory, charisma and sheer determination from our boys to clinch a victory.
Alas, the victory was sweet and puts us in contention to win a third world cup next year! It wasn’t the moment however that got that big lump in my throat.
I noticed how everyone in the stadium (all 65000 of them) sang in unison to our national anthem. While thousands of us sat in pubs, homes and clubs singing along, that for me showed what a united country we can be. The road is long narrow and has enough twists and turns to make a very unhappy shock absorber but it shows how far we have come.
It got me thinking to that epic infamous rugby world cup final only 19 years ago on that very ground when Tata Madiba was amongst us and how he envisaged the country that you and I hope for. I thought of Francois Pienaar and him, lifting that trophy to cries of victory which echoed around the nation.
It made me realise that throughout hardships that one faces, there is still that warm fuzzy story we can all go back to. This my friends is not just a game that’s played on the field, it’s the game changer of a country and shows that if we work really hard to bridge the divide, we can relive the Ellis Park story everyday