The transforming rediscovery of a sense of personal and therefore team belief is said to be behind the near miracle of England’s date with South Africa in tonight’s Rugby Union World Cup Final in Paris. They have already said goodbye to Australia and France against all the odds.<\/p>\n
Jason Robinson, a committed Christian who will play his last competitive game for England tonight, says that a personal faith in God helps him on the field. His own religious beliefs apparently provide bedrock, a focus, a sense of the wider perspective. Bryan Habana, the South African winger and England’s greatest threat tonight, has also referred to some kind of divine intervention in his dramatic success. Neither claim God will help them to win: but their faith is important to them.<\/p>\n
Self belief and inner conviction are not, of course totally reliant on a deeply religious understanding of life and living. Bertrand Russell noted that whilst man is a credulous animal and must believe in something, in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. But he will always believe in something.<\/p>\n