This documentary about the controversial 1974 boycott-breaking British Lions Tour to South Africa where they played against the Springbok rugby team, focuses on one particular rugby player, Dugald Macdonald, and Jenefer Shute, a young woman who ran onto the field protesting the match, a moment that would change both their lives forever. The film provides a thorough exploration of the rugby tour, which went ahead despite international condemnation, as well as the protest action and its impacts. Beyond the historical value of its narrative, the film provides a chilling account of a time when only white faces were included in the official national narrative, as documented by the country’s media. As such, it’s interesting to see the themes of truth, forgiveness and reconciliation unfolding in a South African context without the element of race, despite its implicit centrality.
