Who is chester in invictus

Share this page:. Around The Web Provided by Taboola. Create a list ». Deaths: September 6. Birthdays: August 8. See all related lists ». Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDb page. Find out more at IMDbPro ». How Much Have You Seen? How much of Chester Williams's work have you seen? User Polls Upcoming "based on a true story" film you most want to see? Known For. Invictus Additional Crew. Nelson Mandela has spent 27 years in prison during South African apartheid.

Only four years after his release, he is elected the first black President of South Africa, which many people worry will create unrest. He seeks to unite his country across the racial divisions that have arisen. In order to do so, he finds an opportunity for the country to unite around the South African rugby team and devotes much of his time to motivating the team to victory. Mandela is depicted as an endlessly compassionate, strong, and generous man.

However, he also works too hard and suffers from distant and difficult relationships with his family members, who disagree with him politically and resent the ways his politics have changed their lives. Francois is the captain of the South African Springboks rugby team and their blindside flanker. Francois becomes an ally of Mandela when the president calls him in for tea and expresses his desire to unite the country through rugby.

He trains hard and stands up for what Mandela is doing even though many of his peers harbor prejudice against black South Africans. Francois goes on to lead the Springboks to a World Cup victory against the New Zealand All Blacks in , a victory that helps to generate unity in the country. Chester is the Springbok's left wing during their run to the World Cup. Most significantly he is the only black player on the team. He is beloved by black South African fans and becomes the poster boy for the Springboks as they embark in playing the World Cup.

For despite the smooth and clean Rainbow Nation narrative, South African rugby, like the country within which it operates, is not one of smooth, clean narratives. Williams went on to become a coach, seeing some successes and some failures as is characteristic of that unforgiving profession.

And that is part of the story. But it is not the only part of the story, or even the most important part. Williams was a complex figure in complex times. He deserves to be remembered as such. A sad footnote to all of this is the air of tragedy that increasingly seems to linger over the Springboks, the vast majority of whom are in their late 40s and 50s—still the prime of life.

Williams death at 49 is not a singular tragedy, rather it is just the latest to hit that legendary group. Kitch Christie, the coach, passed away in He was only Flank Ruben Kruger succumbed after a long fight against brain cancer in He was Joost van der Westhuizen, one of the most beloved of all Springboks despite the occasional run-in with the tabloids, passed away after a courageous public struggle with ALS in And James Small was 50 when he died in July.

It did not change my standing within South African rugby. I was a black rugby player and that somehow separated me from the squad. That would be the most important day in South African rugby. South African rugby has not yet achieved that goal. But when Siya Kolisi, the first black Springbok captain, leads his charges onto the pitch against the All Blacks in Yokohama City on the 21st of September the Springboks will be closer than ever.

Rugby in South Africa is generally understood to be a white sport, but contemporary statistics reveal that a great many more black people than white people play rugby there.

Why would a group of black, mostly coloured, South African rugby supporters openly root for New Zealand teams over their own. The writer, Lloyd Gedye, can handle most things, but the mischaracterization of attempts to deracialize the Springbok rugby team, made his blood boil.