Matt Damon. Morgan Freeman. Invictus.

The 2009 movie that documented Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, and the subsequent Springbok success at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, was reasonably well-received around the world.

You can be certain that someone from Hollywood is going to take a stab at telling Siya Kolisi’s story, and our recent World Cup success, but who will play the various members of the matchday 23?

Thanks to rugby guru Alex Tarr, who runs the Facebook group Elite Rugby Banter, we don’t have to wonder. He’s invested some time and energy to do Hollywood’s hard work for them, so let’s have a look at his picks.

We will start with the starting XV:

Eben is an inspired pick.

There were comments that Faf should perhaps be played by Peter Dinklage, but I’m going to Cheslin Kolbe sidestep those.

That’s Sir Makazole Mapimpi, Rugby World Cup final try-scorer and casual F-bomb dropper, folks.

As we mentioned, it’s the full 23 getting the treatment, because it would be rude to leave the Bomb Squad out:

Did Tom Hardy win a World Cup at the age of 20? No, so he’s the lucky one here.

We’re not quite done, because Rassie Erasmus deserves a casting, as does referee Jérôme Garcès:

There was a cheeky suggestion that Garcès be played by Rowan Atkinson in character as Mr. Bean, but given that he was pretty kind to us at scrum time in the final, we’ll pass.

If you’d like to see what else resides inside Alex’s mind, it’s worth noting that Elite Rugby Banter also has a podcast. Adam aside, it’s always worth a listen.

Hollywood producers can also draw on this News24 video – From Zwide to World Cup champion: The Siya Kolisi story – for inspiration:

A thing of beauty.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning why you don’t see Rassie alongside Siya in that image above. This from Sport24:

Video footage shot just before the trophy presentation…showed Kolisi engaged in an animated discussion with Erasmus and the skipper could be seen saying “Please!”…

“I was basically begging Rassie to come lift the trophy with me,” Kolisi revealed. “He said ‘no’ and that it was not his moment and that it was a moment for the players.

“It was just to say thank you to him and the management staff as well.

“The coaching staff has really been amazing and for them to help us turn things around in a year and a half.

“I just wanted to share the moment with them but he (Erasmus) is very selfless and he wanted us players to enjoy the moment.”

Our politicians are falling all over themselves to heap praise on this team (the toxic EFF aside), but they’d also do well to take a lesson from Rassie’s shunning of the limelight.

As for the movie – Invictus 2 remains a working title, so get cracking, Hollywood.

[source:sport24]