The South Africa Rugby union have teamed up with ASICS and the Mandela Foundation to create a special Blitzboks jersey to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday, which will be worn for the Cape Town Sevens on 8-9 December 2018. 

The jersey – which has been created as part of the Mandela 100 initiative to mark what would have been his 100th birthday – has a striking and unique pattern that pays tribute to the beloved former South African president.

The pattern is inspired by the bright and colourful ‘Madiba’ shirts that Mandela became famous for the world over, celebrating the relationship between him and South African rugby that was so famously illustrated during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Fittingly then, the pattern itself celebrates South African sport with the protea flower, the symbol of sport in South Africa, and the SARU of course, prominently featured throughout.

It wouldn’t be a South African rugby jersey without the presence of Springboks either, and so we have two facing boks at the bottom of the jersey front and back, plus prominent and striking horns emerging from the centre of the design front and back. Mandela understood the importance of rugby to South African culture, and so it’s fitting that the base pattern of the jersey is made up of scores of South African flag outlines. The back of the collar sports the Nelson Mandela 100 logo, while the inside of the collar features the quote ‘sport has the power to change the world’ – which Mandela famously said of the Boks’ 1995 RWC win. Just 527 of these wonderful jerseys will be made – 27 going to the Blitzboks team to wear at the Cape Town Sevens, with the other 500 available to the general public. Get one while you can!