Captain Kolisi proves it can be done

Sporting history was made on June 9 when South Africa’s first black national rugby team captain Siya Kolisi ran onto the field at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg to lead the Springboks against England.

The Springbok rugby team was for decades the preserve of white, mainly Afrikaner, sporting culture and as such was during the apartheid years a team that only included white players and coaches and became the very public face of racial segregation.

After 127 years and 478 matches played by the national team with 60 white captains, Kolisi ran onto the field to change history forever.

It was, in fact, the same field at Ellis Park Stadium that Nelson Mandela wore the No 6 jersey in 1995 when South Africa won the Rugby World Cup, helping unite the nation shortly after the end of apartheid and the country’s first free and fair elections.

Kolisi grew up in the impoverished Zwide township outside Port Elizabeth and endured a tough upbringing like millions of other young black boys.

At the age of 12, he impressed scouts at a youth tournament and was offered a scholarship at a successful rugby school after which he went on to become a professional and captain of the Stormers’ Super Rugby team.

This road to success from grassroots township rugby to the biggest stage is the dream of so many more young, underprivileged boys playing on hard grass fields in and around the city of Johannesburg and across the country as part of the VUKA Rugby league.

VUKA Rugby is a sustainable rugby programme developed by Saru (South Africa Rugby Union) and is aimed at the evolvement and promotion of rugby in disadvantaged communities and areas where it is not being played.

As Kolisi and the Springbok team prepared for the match against England, hundreds of young boys ran barefoot on cold wintry rugby fields in Joburg looking to one day emulate their hero.

During the match, a fired-up England took an early advantage but Kolisi and the rest of the team fought back bravely to finally emerge 43-39 winners as Kolisi’s historical day turned into a fairtytale.

One wonders if the next Springbok captain may come from one of the underprivileged rugby teams that play their hearts out at school, hoping to unite the nation behind a new dawn of multiracial and totally integrated sports and society.

IN FULL VOICE. Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi (on screen) sings the national anthem with supporters in the stadium prior to the team facing England at Ellis Park.

Words and pictures: Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE MY STOP. Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, climbs off the team bus.

TAKING IT IN. Young boys sit on a stand and watch rugby being played during a grassroots schools rugby training session in the Katlehong township, south of Johannesburg, on June 5. The training session was organised by the VUKA Rugby initiative.