It’s never just a number that adorns the back of a shirt in rugby. Everything from “1” to “15” has a direct meaning; Unlike in football, for example, the numbers in rugby still represent the players’ respective positions on the field and therefore always represent the history associated with this position. When the South African Siya Kolisi puts on his jersey with the “6” on Saturday, it’s about much more than his position on the field in the final of the World Cup at the Stade de France in Paris: it’s about the history of his country – and that Position that the 32-year-old takes in it.
Kolisi was four years old in 1995 when the number six jersey became an important symbol in South Africa. The image is still immortalized in sports history today: Francois Pienaar, captain of the Springboks, as South Africa’s rugby team is called, bearer of the “6”, with the World Cup trophy in his hand. And with the hand of South African President Nelson Mandela on his shoulder, who, as a black president, wore the jersey of the white player Pienaar to send a signal: to say goodbye to apartheid. With the help of rugby, of all things, the historic sport of the white rulers who imprisoned Mandela.
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In 1995, Springboks captain Francois Pienaar receives congratulations from President Nelson Mandela after the World Cup victory.
(Photo: Imago)
Pienaar was also at the celebrations in Port Elizabeth in November 2019 when the South African rugby team returned home after winning their third World Cup. For the first time during the tournament, a black player wore the number six jersey and led the Boks to the title. Back then, Kolisi played for a country in which the difficulties of the past are far from a thing of the past. But with the World Cup trophy in his hand he represented hope for a better future and whenever Kolisi has appeared since then he has been more than a rugby player. He is a symbolic figure.
He once described himself as a “typical South African story,” partly because his life began in a township. Kolisi grew up outside Port Elizabeth, in the most adverse circumstances that his autobiography recounts. At the age of ten he drank alcohol for the first time, he sniffed gasoline, went hungry every day, and experienced the crime that prevails in the slums.
Kolisi’s career is not always linear
A better world was far away, and yet was only 15 kilometers away. Scouts discovered him as a twelve-year-old playing rugby in the dust and saw the talent in him. Gray High School, known for its rugby program, accepted him. Kolisi understood the sport, but not English; he spoke Xhosa, one of the many local languages. Nevertheless, he quickly learned to find his way around: the boy from the township became an international player within just a few years; he made his debut for the Springboks in 2013 and led them as captain five years later. The path was not always straight; alcohol escapades and affairs accompanied his career.
Kolisi’s story is not only a typically South African one, it is also that of a very human athlete who became increasingly aware of his importance. No press conference or post-game interview is a given for him; he always sees them as a platform to assess what is happening around him.
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Siya Kolisi is close to the people of South Africa – and not just after the quarter-final victory over France.
(Foto: Chris Hyde/Getty)
“The support we get from people – they all can’t afford to be there, but we see the videos from home, the songs and dances: it’s not about us, it’s about our country and the people at home,” said Kolisi after the quarter-final against France. His credo is that skin color plays no role in rugby, neither for the players nor for the spectators: “You have to play to be the best for every South African.”
Kolisi’s qualities as an emotional, sporting leader and coach Jacques Nienaber’s remarkable empathic talent for managing people lead to a remarkable atmosphere around the defending champions. Kolisi was asked after the semi-final win against England what characterizes the connection that exists between the coach, the team and himself. Coach Jacques and the entire team understood that it was about much more than the game on the field, he said.
“It’s about our journey, about what moves us,” explained Kolisi, who sent a special thank you to his coach, which says a lot about how deeply rooted the emotions are in South Africa before the final: “It’s about people, It’s about Siya from the township that he brings out in me.”
