As S.Africa preps for World Cup, Hollywood depicts shining sports moment in “Invictus”

Hollywood depicts S.African historic sports moment

JOHANNESBURG — South Africans say a new Hollywood film about sport and togetherness in racially divided South Africa provides a timely lesson as the country prepares to host next year’s World Cup.

Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” premiered in Johannesburg Tuesday and depicts Nelson Mandela’s support of the national rugby team to draw whites and blacks together after the end of apartheid.

Former rugby player Chester Williams says he hopes the nation will come together for next year’s football World Cup as it did in 1995. In apartheid South Africa, rugby was a white sport.

But South Africans have also criticized the film’s American stars, saying South Africans should have been chosen. Morgan Freeman plays Mandela, the country’s first black leader.