If American football had a baby, it would be called rugby. Saying that, I have angered rugby fans throughout the world. They would claim – truthfully, I might add – that American football is the child of rugby.

In this country, football is much more popular. But, rugby is slowly catching hold and growing.

A rugby field, also called a rugby pitch, is longer and wider than a football field.

A rugby ball is about an inch longer than a football. The ends are gently rounded, making it more of an egg shape.

Each team has 15 players on the field, plus eight substitutes.

The two basic ways of scoring in rugby are called a try and a conversion. A try, worth five points, is when a player touches the ball to the ground in the goal area. A conversion, worth two points, comes after a try and consists of kicking the ball between the goal posts.

Rugby players wear shorts, jerseys, and shoes, plus an optional mouth guard. Shin guards and a few other pieces of protective equipment are allowed, but not required.

Unlike American football, in which play stops after each down, rugby consists of two 40-minute halves of continuous play, with a 15-minute halftime.

Even if you know nothing about rugby, you should watch a movie called Invictus. It’s a 2009 film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for opposing the brutal white rule in South Africa known as Apartheid. He was released in 1990. Four years later, Mandela was elected president of South Africa – its first black president.

Racial tensions are high, and Mandela is searching for ways to calm the nation.

While attending a rugby game between England and South Africa, he notices that many black South Africans are cheering for England instead of their own country. The reason is, the African team, the Springboks, is mostly white and reminds black fans of the oppression they suffered under white rule.

In a year’s time, South Africa will be hosting the Rugby World Cup. It occurs to Mandela that if South Africa’s team did well in the World Cup, even though the team is mostly white, its success could help unite the country.

The challenge is, how to inspire the Springboks to win, and how to convince black fans to cheer for the Springboks.

At one point in the movie, Mandela takes the team to visit Robben Island, where he had spent many years in prison.

The captain of the Springboks, François Pienaar (played by Matt Damon) is astounded that Mandela “could spend 30 years in a tiny cell, and come out ready to forgive the people who put him there.”

Mandela shares with Pienaar and the team a poem called Invictus, which he often read during his years in prison.

Invictus, rated PG-13 for brief strong language, is a true story. An inspiring story. Plus, a pretty good sports movie.

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