Mandela in a Springbok jersey

Rugby in South Africa had been a white sport with a green jersey that meant one thing to most of the country. In 1995, a year after the first democratic election, South Africa hosts the Rugby World Cup. Nelson Mandela walks onto the Ellis Park pitch in a Springbok jersey and a matching cap. The captain, Francois Pienaar, is not sure he is seeing it.

South Africa beats New Zealand in extra time. The trophy presentation is the picture: a president who spent 27 years in prison handing silver to a team that once stood for the system that put him there. Invictus is the movie. The day was quieter and harder.

Sport does not reconcile a nation by itself. Mandela used it anyway, in the one shirt that could reach the people who had not voted for him. That is why the moment outlives the final score.