SPRINGBOK captain Siya Kolisi is the first recipient of the Spirit of 1995 Award, which honours the first Springbok team to win the World Cup, and at the first attempt.
Image: AFP
Siya Kolisi was humility personified on Thursday evening at the SA Rugby Players Awards when he dedicated his Spirit of 1995 Award to his Springbok teammates while hailing coach Rassie Erasmus as the best coach the game has seen.
Kolisi is the first recipient of the Spirit of 1995 Award, which honours the first Springbok team to win the World Cup, and at the first attempt.
Kolisi — who was also honoured for his 100th Test cap on the November tour — received the award for his “exceptional contribution in uplifting the game and the nation, through the example of inclusivity and ubuntu, demonstrating iconic and inspirational leadership to the sport and the country, in the footsteps of the example set by Nelson Mandela in 1995”.
An emotional Kolisi said, “It is tough to get an individual award when you are playing a team sport. Nothing any individual achieves is without the team, so it is really special.
“We know what the 1995 team has done for South Africa, and we’re grateful,” Kolisi said. “We’re able to achieve such great things now as a team with so many people who sacrificed a lot before us and couldn’t wear the jersey.
“I’m honoured and thankful, but I know I am nothing without my teammates.”
Kolisi singled out Erasmus as instrumental in the Springboks winning two World Cups and putting smiles on the faces of South Africans.
“Coach Rassie is special. For me, he is the best (coach) to ever do it.
“I think Rassie understands South Africa, where South Africa is going, and he is honest with the players about telling us some of the things that need to be achieved in South Africa while winning.
“I recall in Japan, and I can’t remember who we were playing, but we were sitting in a circle, and he looked at us, told us one by one that while there were some players that were better than us, we were the right people.
“In life, some struggles you face are meant to tear you down,” Kolisi continued. “Rassie looked at us and told us that what we had gone through was the reason he had chosen us. Some of the stuff we went through was harder than playing Test match rugby.
“When he speaks to us before every game, he doesn’t speak rugby anymore because he knows we can all do that. He speaks about who we are as people, and that’s what he drives. He reminds us who we play for.”
The 34-year-old Kolisi is hopeful that he will continue to fly the South African flag at next year’s World Cup in Australia.
“We are South Africans, and we come from all different walks of life. We want to make everyone proud, and we put the team first. When I walk into the Springbok camp, I leave what Siya Kolisi wants at the door.
“Sometimes it is hard when you don’t get chosen, but you hurt for a day, and then you get over it and help the next guy as much as you can. The team always comes first.”