It may be well be the most memorable picture in the 20-year history of the rugby World Cup, but the photograph of Nelson Mandela handing over the Webb Ellis Cup to Francois Pienaar was not the most defining statement of nationhood and reconciliation in the new South Africa on that sunny winter’s day in June 1995.

Instead, it was the sound of tens of thousands of white South Africans chanting, “Nelson! Nelson!” as the man they had locked up for treason and terrorism for 27 years strode out on to the lush Ellis Park turf wearing a Springbok jersey and cap. Those were heady days to be a South African, white or black. The country celebrated long and hard on that Saturday night and woke up full of hope for a future when there would be more than one black in the Springbok starting XV at a Rugby World Cup final.

This evening, 12 years later, the Springboks will have two players of colour in the starting XV for the sixth rugby World Cup final against England tonight, with Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen patrolling the wings. That’s an increase of one player of colour in a dozen years, a return that has brought surprisingly little reaction from South African politicians, media and sports administrators.

The easy answer would be to say that race no longer matters in South African sport, but transformation in the Rainbow Nation is much more complex and political than that. When the Springboks are losing, then transformation is either happening too fast or too slow, depending on whether you are black or white. When it comes to matches of national importance, such as tonight’s final, then transformation can wait.

Before the Springboks left for France they had an audience with South African president Thabo Mbeki, who told them “not to worry about the politics back home, I’ll take care of that. You just make sure you win the World Cup.”

On Thursday afternoon Smuts Ngonyama, a senior member of the African National Congress, the ruling party, and a man who has the ear of Mbeki, told a radio station in Johannesburg that while transformation was important, a win by the Springboks, no matter what their colour, would be crucial in driving transformation further.

“We want to win and get the name of the nation on the international map, but then, at the same time, we also want to carry transformation forward,” Ngonyama, who played for Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape. “When it comes to transformation we must be patient, but there must also be a clearly-defined programme that is well-funded.

“After 1994 when I used to watch the Springboks, I would count the number of black players in the team and complain. And my son, who played centre at Parktown Boys, used to say to me ‘Dad, please, give me a break. Let’s just watch rugby because all of them are South Africans.’ And that showed me that the younger generation is moving away from where we were and that we are becoming one nation.”

There is hope. At age group level the colour split leans more towards 60-40 in favour of blacks in some of the provinces. In the Eastern Cape area, from where Mandela and Mbeki come, the game is strong amongst the Xhosa people. Equally, it is the sport of choice for the “coloureds” of the Western Cape, and most of the players who make it through to provincial and national level come from here.

The largest stumbling block for black players is making the jump from schoolboy level to the Currie Cup, the professional provincial competition. It is easier for a talent like Frans Steyn to go from Bloemfontein schoolboy to World Cup Springbok in two years than for a black kid from East London to do the same.

The problem is one of perception by provincial coaches: Steyn went to Grey College, a rugby powerhouse; black players cannot usually boast the same pedigree and coaches perceive them to be a “riskier” option. This has a trickle-up effect: a handful of blacks are picked for the Currie Cup and fewer still make it to Super 14 level. Jake White, the Springbok coach, then has a small player base to choose from and, despite being the coach who has selected the most black players since the return from isolation, his final XV is a reflection of the failings of development.

Oregan Hoskins, the president of the South African Rugby Union, said in August that the union had set a target of seven players of colour in the Springbok starting XV in the 2011 World Cup. He has spoken of meaningful transformation and acknowledged the failings of administrators.

“We cannot allow a repeat of the past decade. Rugby is part of South Africa and part of the future. There is still too much association with our past,” said Hoskins.

South African rugby missed a trick 12 years ago. They let slip the opportunity to build on the momentum of a momentous day of unity in a young democracy. Should the Springboks win tonight they will get a second chance to push real change in South African rugby. They dare not waste that chance again.

Kevin McCallum is Chief Sports Writer of The Star, Johannesburg