Today is Africa day so I thought I'd celebrate the achievements of my country, South Africa, on the sports field. 2nd of November 2019 my team, the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup for the third time. What made this victory more special was the fact that we were captained by the first black player, Siya Kolisi.
I remember very clearly when we won the 1995 World Cup which we hosted in South Africa. There was a wonderful feeling across the whole country. I was 19 years old at the time and those iconic images of Nelson Mandela wearing our captain Francois Pienaar number 6 jersey and handing over the World Cup will forever remain etched in the memories of so many South Africans. That was a momentous occasion, hence the reason Clint Eastwood decided to direct a movie "Invictus" which told the story of our victory.
However now some twenty-four years later as a South African this win was more special. The win unified the nation as the racial makeup of our team was more representative of the demographics of our country. In 1995 we had one non-white player in our starting fifteen. Fast forward 24 years later and we had six non-white players on that victorious night in Tokyo. Rugby in South Africa has a chequered past and quite rightly so as for many years non-white South Africans were not given the opportunity that their white counterparts were. They were marginalised as citizens and endured so many social injustices and hardships just because of the colour of their skin.
Image by Lori Heron from Pixabay
Now we have Siya Kolisi as our captain and he is just the most wonderful ambassador for our country. His story is well documented a young man, from a poor township who couldn't afford rugby boots or shorts ends up through sheer hard work and sacrifice to become the Springbok captain. Clint Eastwood and any Hollywood director for that matter will be clamouring to shoot a movie about him. He's a wonderful human being who has boosted the morale of his people. He is an incredibly humble man who has done so much for his community through his charity outreach programmes. He has organised food parcels and relief packages with his wife through their foundation. He is a man that continues to give and should be celebrated for this.
We have so many problems in South Africa, crime, corruption, unemployment, domestic violence, a shrinking economy. However, the Springbok rugby team is a symbol of hope now for all its citizens. I watched the World Cup Final with my wife in Kilkenny, Ireland bursting with pride as we beat England. We won not because we were the better team necessarily but because the team felt unified and they felt the support and pride of representing 60 million South Africans of every creed and colour. For those 80 minutes, we forgot about our problems and began to dream that we could be World Champions again. With a GDP rate of -6 % an unemployment rate of 35 % we need to dream to have some hope, and with Siya Kolisi as captain the Springbok rugby team are a beacon of light for our beleaguered nation.
