Rugby World Cup: Siya Kolisi sends message of hope as Springboks’ higher purpose endures
Iconic captain hopes second successive Rugby World Cup win can prove an inspiration to people from similar backgrounds and have unifying impact in troubled nation
Siya Kolisi gestured to his face in the hopes that a child in Zwide’s Kwa Gqalane Tavern would see him and recognize him through the TV screen.
The captain of South Africa was talking animatedly about reality, fairytales, and hopelessness on the Stade de France pitch, while carrying the Webb Ellis Cup under one arm.
Kolisi defied all odds to become a professional rugby player, never mind that he went on to become the first black captain of the Springboks.
There’s almost no measuring scale for becoming the second captain to win the Rugby World Cup twice in a row.
And to do all that just six months after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, there is absolutely no precedent for that.
This township boy whose mother died when he was 15, who grew up worrying how to put food on the table, has conquered the world twice, in succession.
Celebrating with his team-mates could wait though, because Kolisi had a message to impart.
When Kolisi watched South Africa win the 2007 World Cup final against England in Paris, he stood in Kwa Gqalane Tavern in his home township and thought that what he had witnessed would be forever out of his reach.
Even though, at the age of 16, he was on the cusp of representing the junior Springboks, Kolisi still had no belief that a boy from his background could make it big.
So when he stared down the camera lens and pointed to his face, Kolisi was pointing to the colour of his skin – and telling any youngster watching in Zwide: “You can do all this too”.
There are those who scoff at the Springboks’ higher purpose. Then there are those Springboks who grew up without a TV, without food security, perhaps without a safe family situation.
Good luck telling any of them that loftier ideals are just a narrative construct.
“Look what the Springboks did winning the World Cup for the first time in 1995, we cannot go away from that – without that, I wouldn’t be here,” said Kolisi, minutes after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup for the second time.
“There were people before me who fought for the opportunity for people who look like me to be able to play in this team.
“I’ve got a job to make sure I give everything I can to the jersey, to inspire the next generation, so that they can get opportunities like this.”
For the young Kolisi, a rugby career felt like an out-of-reach fairytale.
For the 62 million South Africans in 2023, unity carries the same strange mix of wistfulness and foreboding.
The Springboks are aware of the inequalities in their society, which include the need to ration power supplies, extreme poverty in some areas, and the belief that human life is the most valuable resource of all.
Fear is a daily garment worn by millions of South Africans, like an unwanted article of clothes.
Then, if only momentarily, those clothes of fear may be cast aside when the Springboks take the field for two hours at a time.
Although Kolisi and his South African teammates firmly feel that uniting men from diverse backgrounds towards a single objective can serve as a model and inspire hope, they acknowledge that rugby alone cannot resolve a nation’s issues.
“There’s so much that’s going wrong in our country, we are basically the last line of defence,” said Kolisi.
“So many people who come from where I come from are hopeless.
“There’s so much division in the country, but we show as people from all different backgrounds that it is possible to work together in South Africa, not just on the rugby field but in life in general.”
South Africa prevailed 12-11 in Saturday night’s World Cup final against New Zealand.
Handre Pollard’s four penalties proved just enough for the Boks to retain their trophy, and add a record fourth crown to the 1995, 2007 and 2019 triumphs.
After 28 minutes, Sam Cane was dismissed for slamming his shoulder into Jesse Kriel’s face.Although the New Zealand captain will never get over the dismissal, he must acknowledge that the referee made the correct call.
South Africa defeated the All Blacks by a point in the championship match after defeating England 16–15 in the final four and France 29–28 in the quarterfinal.
The transformation process started with coaches Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, and it produced a captain in Kolisi who has now won the World Cup twice.
Anyone involved in sports will talk passionately about how the smallest margins can make the biggest differences; perhaps there is still a greater purpose?
