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Francois Pienaar
Jacobus Francois Pienaar (born 2 January 1967) is a retired South African rugby union player. He played flanker for South Africa (the Springboks) from 1993 until 1996, winning 29 international caps, all of them as captain. He is best known for leading South Africa to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After being dropped from the Springbok team in 1996, Pienaar went on to a career with English club Saracens. Early life and education Pienaar was born in Vereeniging, South Africa, into a working-class Afrikaner family, and is the eldest of four boys. After completing high school at Hoërskool Patriot Witbank, he won an athletic scholarship to the Rand Afrikaans University, where he studied law. Playing career He made his provincial debut for Transvaal Province in 1989 before being selected for the South Africa squad in 1993. He was appointed Springbok captain from his first test and remained captain until his last, and remains one of the most successful South African capta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vereeniging
Vereeniging ( ; ) is a city located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly situated in the Transvaal province. Vereeniging is the third largest city in Gauteng. The name ''Vereeniging'' is the Dutch word meaning "association", although the spelling has since changed to ''vereniging'', with a single ''e''. Geographical information Vereeniging is situated in the southern part of Gauteng Province, and forms the southern portion of the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeninging (PWV) conurbation, and its neighbors are Vanderbijlpark (to the west), Three Rivers (east), Meyerton (north) and Sasolburg (south). The city is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being iron, steel, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime. The predominant language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada National Rugby Union Team
The Canada men's national rugby union team () represents the Canada in men's international rugby union competitions. They are overseen by Rugby Canada the governing body of rugby union in Canada. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation and has competed in competitions such as the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup. Canada traditionally plays in red and white. Canada has been playing international rugby since their 1932 debut against Japan national rugby union team, Japan. Canada competed at every World Cup from the inagurual tournament in 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1987 until its elimination at the hands of Chile during the 2023 qualifying process, breaking the 3 decades long record of uninterrupted attendance. Canada achieved their best result at the World Cup in 1991 Rugby World Cup, 1991, where they reached the quarterfinals. Canada was once the dominant power of North American rugby and was the second-best team in the Americas. Before t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential players in the history of the sport, and as one of the most talented sportsmen ever. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. Standing and weighing , Lomu was famed for his unprecedented speed, strength and agility. Exceptionally large for a wing player, he is also known as the first winger to be a physical heavyweight. For his fast and effortless style of play, Lomu was once nicknamed the "freight train in ballet shoes", and was celebrated for his ability to shrug off tackles from multiple opponents at once. He became the youngest ever All Black when he played his first international in 1994 at the age of 19 years and 45 days. Playing on the wing, Lomu finished his international career with 63 caps and 37 tries. Lomu was inducted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chester Williams
Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in South Africa. He was the only non-white player on the team. During the tournament he scored four tries for South Africa in its quarter-final match and also appeared in the semi-final and final. Domestically he played rugby for the Western Province in the Currie Cup. After retiring, Williams pursued a career in coaching, including a spell with the South Africa national rugby sevens team, the Uganda national rugby union team, and the University of the Western Cape. He was portrayed by McNeil Hendricks in the 2009 Clint Eastwood film '' Invictus'', a biographical sports drama film about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and he also helped to coach Matt Damon and ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invictus (film)
''Invictus'' is a 2009 docudrama sports film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. It is the third collaboration between Eastwood and Freeman after ''Unforgiven'' (1992) and ''Million Dollar Baby'' (2004), and the first between Eastwood and Damon, followed by ''Hereafter (film), Hereafter'' (2010). The story is based on the 2008 John Carlin (journalist), John Carlin book ''Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation'' about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The national team, the South Africa national rugby union team, Springboks, were not expected to perform well, the team having only recently returned to high-level international competition following the dismantling of apartheid—the country was hosting the World Cup, thus earning an automatic entry. Freeman portrays President of South Africa, South African President Nelson Mandela while Damon played Francois Pienaar, the captain of the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various List of awards and nominations received by Matt Damon, awards and nominations, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards. Damon made his acting debut in the film ''Mystic Pizza'' (1988) before gaining prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in ''Good Will Hunting'', which won them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. He established himself as a leading man by starring as Tom Ripley in ''The Talented Mr. Ripley (film), The Talented Mr. Ripley'' (1999), Jason Bourne in the Bourne (franchise), ''Bourne'' franchise (2002–2007; 2016), and Linus Caldw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Webb Ellis Cup
The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the men's Rugby World Cup, the premier competition in men's international rugby union. The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited as being the inventor of rugby football. The trophy is silver gilt and has been presented to the winner of the Rugby World Cup since the first competition in 1987. It has been won four times by South Africa (1995, 2007, 2019 & 2023), three times by New Zealand (1987, 2011 & 2015), twice by Australia (1991 & 1999), and once by England (2003). The 38-centimetre trophy weighs 4.5 kg, is gilded silver and has two cast scroll handles. One handle bears the head of a satyr, the other the head of a nymph. On the face of the trophy, the words '' International Rugby Football Board'', and below that arch ''The Webb Ellis Cup'' are engraved. The Webb Ellis Cup is also referred to (incorrectly) as the "Webb Ellis Trophy" or colloquially as "Bill," a nickname coined by the 1991 R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a Universal suffrage, fully representative democratic election. Presidency of Nelson Mandela, His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial Conflict resolution, reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialism, socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. A Xhosa people, Xhosa, Mandela was born into the Thembu people, Thembu royal family in Mvezo, South Africa. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. There he became involved in anti-colonial and Afr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joel Stransky
Joel Theodore Stransky (born 16 July 1967) is a South African former rugby union player. A fly-half, he is known for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. Early life Stransky was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, to a family from England and Czechia. He was raised in Reform Judaism and had a ''bar mitzvah'' ceremony. He was educated at Maritzburg College where he was coached by Skonk Nicholson, a well-known figure in schoolboy rugby. After his military conscription in Pretoria, he returned to Natal to study at the University of Natal. Playing career In 1990 he was part of the team that beat Northern Transvaal to win the Currie Cup for the first time. He then moved to Italy where he played for L'Aquila during the 1991–92 season, and for San Donà in 1992–93. Between 1993 and 1996, he won 22 caps for South Africa. In 1995 he was part of the first South Africa team to play i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drop Goal
A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicking it as it rises from the first bounce) over the crossbar and between the posts of the goal posts. After the kick, the ball must not touch the ground before it goes over and through, although it may touch the crossbar, the uprights or an opponent. A drop goal in rugby union is worth three points, and in rugby league a drop goal is usually worth one point (see below). If the drop goal attempt is successful, play stops and the non-scoring team (the scoring team in rugby union sevens) restarts play with a kick from halfway. If the kick is unsuccessful, play continues and the offside rules for a kick apply. Defenders may tackle the kicker while he is in possession of the ball, or attempt to charge down or block the kick. Rugby union World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellis Park Stadium
Ellis Park Stadium (known as Emirates Airline Park for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union and association football stadium in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was won by the country's national team, the Springboks. The stadium was the country's most modern when it was upgraded in 1982 to accommodate almost 60,000 people. Today, the stadium hosts both football and rugby and is also used as a venue for other large events, such as open-air concerts. It has become synonymous with rugby as the only time when rugby was not played at Ellis Park was during 1980 and 1981, when the stadium was under construction during the upgrade. The stadium was originally named after J. D. Ellis, who made the area for the stadium available. A five-year ZAR 450 million (US$58 million/ £30 million) naming rights deal was signed in 2008 with The Coca-Cola Company, resulting in the stadium being named Coca-Cola Park between 2008 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1995 Rugby World Cup Final
The 1995 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, played in South Africa. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg on 24 June 1995 between the host nation, South Africa, and New Zealand. South Africa won the match by three points in their 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, with Andrew Mehrtens of New Zealand scoring all 12 of the All Blacks points, (three penalties and one drop goal) and Joel Stransky tallying all 15 points (three penalties and two drop goals) for the Springboks, including a drop goal in extra time, which sealed the victory and their first ever Rugby World Cup title. At the end of the match, South African President Nelson Mandela, wearing a number 6 Springbok rugby shirt and cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to the South African captain François Pienaar. Path to the final The final was contested by the ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
