Speaking of colour, Siya’s blood is green

The contrast of naming two Springbok captains this past week couldn’t have been more obvious. There they stood, next to national coach Rassie Erasmus, flank Siya Kolisi and lock Pieter-Steph du Toit.

They had a lot in common. They both play for the Stormers and they have both become very much established Bok players over the last few seasons.

There was however one big difference. The one was black and the other one was white.

It was there for everyone to see, symbolic of how a nation still stands divided after 24 years of the new dispensation.

Du Toit was appointed for just the one-off Test tomorrow against Wales, while Kolisi was named for the the three-match Test series against England which will follow.

While Du Toit’s appointment made little waves, there has been huge interest in Kolisi’s appointment and unfortunately some people saw it as just another opportunity to air their take on our country’s complex racial set-up. Which is really sad, because Kolisi has been a Bok stalwart for a number of seasons and displayed some brilliant touches in his 28 Tests, while his Stormers captaincy made him a candidate for future Bok captain.

He has been one of the selected players who formed part of previous coach Allister Coetzee’s leadership group in 2016 and 2017, so call his appointment political is very much uncalled for and proof of bad taste. We saw it coming for a long time so why all the uproar when it eventually materialised?

But credit to Kolisi and the strong character stemming from his humbling surroundings while growing up. He has vowed to unite all of the different sectors of society behind him and his team and not just a selected group. After all the Boks belong to the nation and Kolisi acknowledged that with lots of grace.

Where were the naysayers when Kolisi produced one great performance after another against the French last year, with superb performances especially at both Loftus and Durban in the first two Tests, underlining his class?

While members of the uninformed public might have questioned Kolisi’s appointment, the media as a whole welcomed his achievement unconditionally. It’s probably because we, as well as coach Rassie Erasmus, don’t see colour when a player is performing on merit. And no doubt Kolisi is good enough.

Well done, Siya. We are behind you in full support.