Analyzing Sports and National Identity: South African Rugby

This essay examines the significant relationship between sports and national identity, focusing on the South African rugby team as a compelling case study. It begins by defining sports and its role in shaping national culture, highlighting the team's historical context, including the impact of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's influence. The essay traces the evolution of the South African rugby team, its triumphs, and the challenges it faced, demonstrating how the team has become a microcosm of the nation's diversity and a symbol of unity. It analyzes the team's impact on national identity, including its role in fostering a sense of belonging and cohesion among diverse groups. Furthermore, the essay explores the historical background of the South African rugby team, its participation in international tournaments, and its contribution to national pride. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of sports in shaping national identity and the South African rugby team's unique role in this process.

Running head: SPORTS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
Sports and National Identity
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Sports and the South African Rugby team.................................................................................2
Brief History of South African Rugby team..............................................................................5
National Identity.........................................................................................................................7
Impact of South African Rugby team on the National Identity of South Africa.......................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
“The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people”
The above quoted line of Hobsbawn from his famous book “Nations and Nationalism
Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality” (1999) speak volume regarding the correlation
between the concepts of national identity and sports teams (Giulianotti 2015). Houlihan and
Malcolm (2015) are of the viewpoint that the entity of sports wields a significant influence on
the national culture and thereby the national identity of any nation in a significant manner. As
opined by Rees et al. (2015), the construct of sports acts as a cohesive force which aspires to
unite together the different citizens from diverse cultural as well as ethnic backgrounds of a
nation. In this regard, it needs to be said that the different sports teams with its players from
the diverse walks of society of a nation can be seen as a microcosm of the entire nation itself.
This in turn helps the audience or the citizens of a particular nation to feel affinity towards
the sports teams and also towards the each of the members of these teams since these teams
and the players albeit in a microcosmic manner represent their diverging interests (Dieckhoff
and Gutiérrez 2017). More importantly, these different kinds of sports and also the sports
offer the common people of any nation and also of the world to channelize their surplus
energy towards something construct and also offers them the much needed entertainment in
their otherwise mundane lives. This case study will evaluate the contribution made by the
sports teams towards the national identity and national culture of any nation in the particular
context of the contribution made by the South African Rugby team towards the nation of
South Africa.

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Sports and the South African Rugby team
As opined by Forde et al. (2015), sports can be defined as any form of competitive
game or physical activity which can be organized through a casual or organized participation
and is primarily intended for entertainment purposes both for the audience and also the
players. Lock and Funk (2016) are of the viewpoint that one of the major aims of the various
kinds of sports or games is to enhance the levels of physical and also mental fitness as well as
agility of the participants. Furthermore, in the present times it is seen that various kinds of
sports like cricket, rugby, football, chess and others have emerged and as a matter of fact the
history of sports can be traced to the ancient times (Houlihan and Zheng 2015). For example,
in the ancient times it was seen that the rulers of various kingdoms used to organize various
kinds of adventurous games like wrestling, archery, gladiatorial contests and others which
were intended to entertain the audiences (Barney and Heine 2015). However, in the present
times it is seen that the nature of sports and also the kind of sports which are being played
have undergone a significant amount of transformation keeping in pace with the changing
times and also society. In this regard, it is needs to be said that in complete contradiction to
the earlier times less-dangerous and less-harmful kind of sports like cricket, rugby, football,
chess, tennis and others have gained popularity. It is pertinent to note that in these sports the
players are required to use more of their mental abilities in comparison to their physical
strength so to gain success (Spaaij, Farquharson and Marjoribanks 2015).
According to Yang (2017), the history of rugby sports can be traced back to the 19th
century (1845) and William Webb Ellis, a student of Rugby School is generally given the
credit for the invention of this sports. This drastically changed the nature of the football game
and the most important effect of this is seen within the spectrum of the American football
sport (Tsui and Tollefson 2017). In addition to this, in order to popularize this sport various
international tournaments and even World Cups are being organized on a global basis which

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offer much entertainment to the audiences or the spectators (Heere et al. 2016). More
importantly, the emergence of different kinds of technologies and effective sports gears have
positively impact this sport and this as a matter of fact has significantly enhanced not only the
standard but at the same time the quality of the game as well. This is perhaps one of the major
reasons why the sport of rugby in the recent times has emerged as one of the major sports of
the world which is only next to cricket and football in terms of the number of spectators and
also the amount of revenue generated by it.
The South African Rugby team is currently ranked as the 5th best rugby team of the
world and its formation can be traced back to the 19th century, precisely in the year 1891
when the team played its first match with the rugby team of England (Sarugby.co.za 2019).
The South African rugby team over the years had performed much better than the other rugby
teams of its competitor nations and it is a mark of this that the concerned team won the
Rugby World Cup in 2007 in addition to numerous other championships and tournaments
(Stephens and Fourie 2017). More importantly, the ideologies of Nelson Mandela and also
the factors of diversity, apartheid, cultural as well as ethnic factors and others have positively
affected the creation of the present South African Rugby team and the present composition of
the team aptly depicts this (Whitley, Wright and Gould 2016).
It is seen that the currently rugby team of the nation is a conglomeration of players
from diverse walks of life of the nation and also represent the diversity of the nation in a
subtle manner. In this regard, mention needs to be made of Elton Jantjes, Bongi Mbonambi,
Tendai Mtawarira and others who can be seen as the representatives of the native people of
Africa because of their skin color (Sarugby.co.za 2019). In addition to these, the other white-
skinned players of the team under discussion here like Damian de Allende, Steven Kitshoff,
Pieter-Steph du Toit and others represent the settler community of the nation (Sarugby.co.za
2019). Thus, it can be said that the national rugby team of the nation under discussion by

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virtue of having players from all cultural as well as ethnic background of the nation can be
seen as a microcosm of the entire nation itself and the concept of diversity which it
represents.
Brief History of South African Rugby team
Giampiccoli, Lee and Nauright (2015) have articulated the viewpoint that the history
of the South African Rugby team provides an overview of the history of the nation of South
Africa in the last century because of the fact that the events which affected the nation has also
affected the team under discussion here as well. For example, in the past century the aspects
of apartheid, rights of the black people, diversity, nationalism, economic crisis and others
have profoundly affected the national history of the nation and these have wielded a
substantial influence on the national rugby team of the nation as well (Carroll and Bairner
2018). It is pertinent to note that although the rugby team of South Africa was formed in the
year 1891, the concerned team was unable to participate in the Rugby World Cups in 1987
and 1991 because of the anti-apartheid boycott movement which was going on in the
concerned nation (Sarugby.co.za 2019). Furthermore, it is a commonly accepted fact that the
wide acceptance that the sports under discussion here has got in the nation of South Africa
can be explained on the basis of the fact that the sports offered the much needed
entertainment in the otherwise mundane life of the people of Africa, a nation which is known
for its turbulent history since the traditional times.
The sport of rugby gained much popularity after its introduction in the nation under
discussion here and this popularity is reflected in the fact that the majority of the educational
institutions of the nation have their own school and college level rugby teams and also
encourage the children to participate the same (Sephapo and Erdis 2016). Furthermore, it is
also seen that various school or college or local level tournaments are being organized

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regularly not only for the purposes of entertainment but also to ensure the fact that the
national team of the nation gets the right number of talented players who would be able to
perform at the international level. However, at the same time it needs to be said that there had
been various periods in the history of the nation when the sport was suspended or the national
team did not participate in any international events. In this regard, mention needs to be made
of the Inter War years, the apartheid boycott era and others which adversely affected the
prospects of this sport in the nation under discussion here (Sarkin 2017).
The most of glory came for the national rugby team in the year 2007 when it defeated
the rugby team of England to win the World Cup for the first time (Stephens and Fourie
2017). In addition to this, the match between the national rugby team of South Africa and the
team “All Blacks” in 1995 is often seen to a be turning point in the history of the rugby sports
in the nation of South Africa because of the fact that when the match was played the nation
was undergoing through the final stages of the apartheid boycott movement (Sarugby.co.za
2019). In this regard, mention also needs to be made of the controversies which the team
faced on the score of the skin-color of the players that adversely affected the unity of the
concerned team. For example, in the latter part of the 19th century it was seen that the black-
skinned players were prohibited from the national team and the few players who got the
opportunity to represent the nation had to face discrimination and also segregation
(Giampiccoli, Lee and Nauright 2015). However, with the abolishment of discrimination, the
success of the apartheid movement, the leadership of Nelson Mandela and other factors
significantly contributed towards the creation of a cohesive team which completely
disregarded the cultural, ethnic, racial and other factors (Giulianotti 2015). In addition to
these, it can be said that the media of South Africa also played a pivotal role in the popularity
gained by the team under discussion here. Thus, it can be said that the history of the national
rugby team of South Africa and the history of the nation itself are closely interlinked with

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each other because of the microcosmic nature of the South African rugby team with the
society of the nation.
National Identity
According to Houlihan and Malcolm (2015), the concept of national identity can be
defined as an individual’s sense of belonging or association or affinity with a particular state
or a nation. Forde et al. (2015) are of the viewpoint that the construct of national identity
even represents the cohesion among the different entities of a nation on the basis of culture,
ethnicity, language, social background and others. The primary purpose of the use of such a
construct is not only to unite the diverging entities of a particular nation but at the same time
to imbibe a feeling of belongingness among the people of a nation (Houlihan and Malcolm
2015). More importantly, the inculcation of the feeling of national identity among the
different individuals of a particular nation in the recent times is being explained on the basis
of various theories. The most important ones in this regard are the theory of cohesion and the
theory of conflict (Dieckhoff and Gutiérrez 2017). As per the theory of cohesion, a feeling of
national identity can be imbibed among the different people of a particular nation on the basis
of the similarity of the language that is spoken by the people, common cultural, social or
racial aspects and other similar factors among them (Lock and Funk 2016). On the other
hand, the theory of conflict states that a strong feeling of national identity can be developed
among the people of a particular nation in times of conflicts or challenging situations
(Houlihan and Zheng 2015). In this regard, it needs to be said that conflict or challenging
situations are the perhaps the best situations which unite or bind together the different people
because of the collective response that they are required to offer for the mitigation of such
situations (Dieckhoff and Gutiérrez 2017). It is pertinent to note that these theories of
national identity can even be applied in the particular context of the South African Rugby

8SPORTS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
team and the contribution that they have made towards the development of the sense of
national identity among the different citizens of the concerned nation.
Impact of South African Rugby team on the National Identity of South Africa
Spaaij, Farquharson and Marjoribanks (2015) are of the viewpoint that the various
sports teams of a particular nation in addition to the entertainment that they offer to the
citizens of the concerned nation also help the authorities to imbibe as well as foster a sense of
national identity among them. In this regard, it needs to be said that they act as the binding
force which unites together the different people of the nation in the best possible manner
regarding of the class or the section of the society that they belong. More importantly, in the
contemporary times it is seen that these sports teams are even seen as the microcosm of the
entire society of the nation and have members from the diverse sections of the nation
(Dieckhoff and Gutiérrez 2017). This in turn helps in fostering a strong sense of nationalism
and also a feeling of belongingness and also national identity among the different people of
the nation as well.
The contribution made by the national rugby team of South Africa towards the growth
of the feeling of nationalism, belongingness and national identity among the people of South
Africa can in no way be undermined. For example, it is seen that throughout the turbulent
times that the nation under discussion here in the past century had endured the sport of rugby
and its national team has offered the much needed hope and also resilience to the people of
the nation (Tsui and Tollefson 2017). In other words, it can be said that the sports team and
the sport itself acted as an escape for the people of the nation from the mundane as well as the
harsh realities of their lives. In addition to this, the selection of the black-skinned people to
the national team of the concerned nation and also their commendable performances at the
international stage helped the black people to recognize the fact that they can also achieve

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similar feats of glory provided they work hard and have the necessary direction in life
(Stephens and Fourie 2017). In this regard, it can be said that the people of the nation were
being able to feel empathy towards the members of the team and whenever the team and its
members played they felt that they themselves were playing and winning the games on behalf
of the nation (Rees et al. 2015). More importantly, the diversity which existed within the
team and also the manner in which the players from different backgrounds were being able to
co-exist showed the way through which the nation itself with its different people could exist.
This in-turn helped the creation of feeling of national identity as well as the belongingness
among the common people of the nation and also showed the way through which the
common people needed to proceed forward. Thus, it can be said that both the theories of
creation of national identity, namely, cohesion and conflict becomes apparent in the
contribution made by the national rugby team of South Africa towards the creation of a
national identity.
Conclusion
To conclude, the entity of sports and the various sports teams have a profound
influence on the society as well as the common people of any nation. In this regard, it needs
to be said that the various sports teams and their members can be seen as the microcosm of
the entire society and also the nation itself. More importantly, the different kinds of sports
offer the much needed entertainment to the people and also the opportunity to the people
through which they can utilize their surplus energy in a constructive manner. Furthermore,
the contribution made by the various sports teams and also the team members of these teams
towards the creation of the feeling of national identity, belongingness and cohesion among
the common people of any nation can in no way be undermined. These aspects of the
contribution made by the sports teams towards the creation of national identity becomes

10SPORTS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
apparent from the above discussion of the contribution made by the national rugby team of
South Africa towards the development of the national identity in South Africa.
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