That's why I went to university and started debating what the great man was all about. South Africa's Makazole Mapimpi scores their first try. That's when our relationship actually grew and I got to know him better as a person, leaving here to go to the UK, having tea with him when he came to the UK, getting to know the man better than just in the sporting context - it was a real privilege.I grew up in apartheid South Africa and as a young kid, when Mr Mandela was a prisoner, the things I heard about him were bad things - sadly so. Very important, and I think they will because of the respect for Madiba [Mandela's tribal name]. Nelson!"

Nelson Mandela congratulates South Africa's rugby team captain François Pienaar after his team's victory over New Zealand in the final of the Rugby World Cup … South Africa fans cheer ahead of the final. Nelson Mandela presents François Pienaar with the William Webb Ellis trophy after South Africa's win over New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. "There were so many high-powered people waiting outside to see him and every time Mary (Mxadana, Mandela's assistant) would come in to hurry him up he would say to her: "Mary, I'm speaking to my captain. England's Tom Curry in action. "I am probably the luckiest sports person ever because of the unique relationship (with Mandela)," he says of a man who became a father figure to him.Their close bond, a young white Afrikaner and the famous black prisoner of Robben Island, grew out of Pienaar's captaincy of the Springboks and Mandela's visionary and altruistic support of a team who played in a jersey many of his followers despised. On every occasion, I get pulled by one or the other saying, "Dad, have you seen this, have you heard about that?" The last couple of days has been a rollercoaster ride watching what is happening all over the world and what people are saying about him.It makes you feel so blessed that you've had an opportunity to share intimate time with one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen.The story about the rugby has been well told but what hasn't been told is what happened after rugby.

We talked about all things –- not just the World Cup. "I know it sounds bizarre. I am truly the luckiest sportsman alive by a long way; to be so privileged at that time to be the captain, to share the platform with him, to be influenced by him and to get to know him so well," Pienaar said.Pienaar was dropped from the Springbok side in 1996 and when he announced he would be leaving to join Saracens in London, Mandela summoned him to lunch and left him with a final request. Francois Pienaar, even 25 years on, conveys a sense of disbelief and awe when he talks of that crisp Highveld winter's day that the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup for the first time.The Springbok captain's wonder is not so much about the fact that his team won the Webb Ellis Cup at Ellis Park on June 24 1995, for he says he always felt they could pull it off, but that he received the golden trophy from President Nelson Mandela. We had to explain that he didn't get the call! If you look at the last 20 years what South Africa has done has been phenomenal. You saw my reaction - you bite your lip and I walked over to him and actually I didn't even get to him and he said 'good luck boys' and he turned round and my number was on his back. When I saw the images of people in the street, dancing, laughing, hugging one another, crying, like we've seen at Mr Mandela's passing, I realised it was special but I didn't realise how big it was. We all know that picture - Nelson Mandela, Francois Pienaar, the World Cup and those identical Springbok No.6 shirts. "Madiba regularly invited us for tea and our second son, Stephane, who was four or five at the time asked 'why is Mr Mandela only Jean's godfather and not mine too?' "The bond between the rugby player and the struggle hero would extend well beyond the World Cup. In the years of apartheid and all the sanctions, it hurt the core especially of Afrikaners because sport is a release mechanism, and something that made us really proud. Nelson Mandela: Francois Pienaar says he 'never imagined he would be so emotional' Rugby World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar talks about his close relationship with Nelson Mandela… © Francois Nel - World Rugby via Getty Images "Francois, thank you for what you've done for this country" –- "Mr President, thank you for what you've done for this country. Il est le capitaine de l'équipe d'Afrique du Sud lorsque celle-ci remporte la Coupe du monde de rugby en … "I am probably the luckiest sports person ever because of the unique relationship (with Mandela)," he says of a man who became a father figure to him.Their close bond, a young white Afrikaner and the famous black prisoner of Robben Island, grew out of Pienaar's captaincy of the Springboks and Mandela's visionary and altruistic support of a team who played in a jersey many of his followers despised.

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