Rugby is politics and poetry

You'll find me in the pub at the weekend, because it's time to watch rugby again. The Six Nations tournament has begun. Tomorrow, it's Wales vs. Scotland in Cardiff, followed by France vs. Ireland in Paris. On Sunday, England play Italy in Rome.

No Scandinavians? No Germans, Russians, Americans or Chinese either? Can't be much of a sport, then, can it? Maybe. But when the Oscars are being handed out in Hollywood next month, soccer (as football is called over there) won't be getting one, while rugby, I'm sure, will. You see, Morgan Freeman has been nominated as Best Actor and Matt Damon as Best Supporting Actor for their roles in Clint Eastwood's film Invictus. It's the true story of how Nelson Mandela and the captain of the South African rugby team, Jacobus François Pienaar, helped unite their racially divided nation during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

"I am the master of my fate. / I am the captain of my soul." are the two most famous lines from "Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered") by the English poet William Ernest Henley. In Clint Eastwood's film, Nelson Mandela keeps the poem on a scrap of paper in his prison cell on Robben Island and then gives it to François Pienaar before the start of the Rugby World Cup.

Sure, it's only a game, but rugby is politics and poetry, too.