SOUTH AFRICA’S UNPRECEDENTED RECORD FOURTH RUGBY WORLD CUP WIN GOES FAR BEYOND SPORTING EXCELLENCE – IT WAS A STUDY IN FUTURE PLANNING, ORGANIZATION, LEADERSHIP AND MENTALITY.



South Africa’s record fourth World Cup title was a seminal moment for the game in the country and highlighted the huge strides forward rugby has made in igniting a passion for the game among supporters of all races.



In a country struggling with an electricity crisis, economic downturn, high unemployment, crime and corruption, the Springboks’ 12-11 World Cup final win over New Zealand provided a rare chance to celebrate.



But the win goes far beyond sporting excellence and those who spearheaded it hope it can be a blueprint for success in all walks of South African life.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="681" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1763424326.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60650" style="width:797px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1763424326.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1763424326-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1763424326-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; NOVEMBER 04: Fans during the South Africa men&#8217;s national rugby team trophy tour on November 04, 2023 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


The sight of thousands of adoring supporters lining the streets to see the team on their trophy tour in Soweto, South Africa’s largest township, was particularly striking given how rugby was once perceived to be the sport of the white Afrikaner during apartheid.



Those scenes were replicated across the country and showcase not only the love and admiration supporters have for the side, but also the deep respect for an unprecedented achievement.



The Springboks became the first team to lift the World Cup trophy on four occasions and the win was achieved with much more than skill and physical prowess alone, it was a study in future planning, organization, leadership and mentality. No team has had a harder path to victory, with South Africa meeting each of the other top six sides in the world rankings on their road to the trophy.



One point wins over hosts France, a dogged England and old foes New Zealand in the knockout stages was a test of their character as well as skillset.



Former Springbok flyhalf Joel Stransky kicked the winning drop-goal in extra-time when the side lifted their first World Cup title in front of a beaming Nelson Mandela in 1995.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="699" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1761533936.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60649" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1761533936.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1761533936-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1761533936-768x524.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; NOVEMBER 03: Siya Kolisi during the South Africa men&#8217;s national rugby team trophy tour on November 03, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


He was in France in a broadcast role and got to see the side operate at close quarters. He explains to FORBES AFRICA in an exclusive interview the secret to their success.



“That tough mentality is born from a few things,” Stransky says. “It comes from the huge effort that goes into what they do, a team spirit and genuine love for each other, and a burning desire to succeed. This team has a wonderful culture. “They work their socks off for each other and leave no stone unturned in preparation for every match. They also have that South African never-say-die attitude where they find a way to win games that other teams cannot. They are an exceptional bunch.”



Eloquent captain Siya Kolisi is a hugely-respected figure in the game around the world and in the aftermath of their victory spoke at length about the unity within the side and the fact that their diversity, with players coming from such different backgrounds, is what binds them together.



“We are a diverse and beautiful team from all walks of life. This trophy is for those who come from tough, disadvantaged areas,” Kolisi said.



“For the kid who needs to know that while things are tough for you, and you can’t afford school fees, you have no shoes to walk to school and no food at home, you can make something out of your life. Even when the situation does not look hopeful.



“We come from those backgrounds, this team represents everybody. We want people to say, ‘who can I look to that has made it from this situation’, and that is us. You can look at this team.”



It was a sentiment echoed by scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, whose upbringing could not have been more different than Kolisi’s, but whose mentality is the same.



“It feels very uniting,” he said. “It is not our trophy, it is everyone in South Africa’s trophy. We might be 33 players (in the World Cup squad), but our driving force is the people of South Africa and we couldn’t have done it without them.”



Kolisi is the undisputed captain of the side but as Stransky points out, successful teams are made up of leadership groups, whose own perspectives and experiences are valued and listened to too.



“In every team you have lots of leadership, especially in the national set-up because there are lots of guys who captain other (club) sides and are natural leaders.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762113459.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60050" style="width:836px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762113459.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762113459-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762113459-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PARIS, FRANCE &#8211; OCTOBER 28: Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, lifts the The Webb Ellis Cup following the Rugby World Cup Final match between New Zealand and South Africa at Stade de France on October 28, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


“But at the top of the leadership group you are still a proper, genuine captain who is respected and loved by everyone and Siya is that guy.



“As a human being he is just the most amazing guy. He is obviously thorough in his preparation and training, but as a human being he is sensational, and that is why they will follow him to the ends of the earth.”



The world may love Kolisi, but the Springboks are not universally admired despite their success and drew criticism during the tournament for what was viewed as a dour style of rugby and a controversial use of a 7-1 split between forwards and backs on the bench.



The criticism leveled at them is that they are all power and no finesse, and that does not make for an entertaining product for fans.



“Well done to South Africa, the best at not playing rugby,” screamed a headline in New Zealand Herald, while pundits shouted loudly about the bench being against the spirit of the game, and the need to depower scrums, a major weapon of the Springboks.



“When we look back at it in 20 years’ time, no one is going to say, ‘what was the style of play that day’,” Stransky says. “Where our coaching team has been exceptional is that they have looked at the laws of the game and the areas where the referees are focussing on.



“They have said, ‘these are our strengths, so how can we be at our best inside the parameters of the laws’. They have picked horses for courses and played a different game-plan against different opposition when required.”



Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and departing head coach Jacques Nienaber had to think out of the box after losing key hooker Malcolm Marx early in the tournament, making the inspired decision to bring in flyhalf Handré Pollard as his replacement. He had missed out in the original squad due to a calf injury.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="724" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762435141.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60047" style="width:680px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762435141.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762435141-300x212.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GettyImages-1762435141-768x543.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PARIS, FRANCE &#8211; OCTOBER 28: Kurt-Lee Arendse (L) and Damian Willemse of South Africa celebrate their win in the changing rooms following dthe Rugby World Cup France 2023 Gold Final match between New Zealand and South Africa at Stade de France on October 28, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney &#8211; World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


There were question marks over the kicking accuracy of Manie Libbok and given that Pollard was successful with all 13 of his kicks at goal, including difficult shots in the knockout rounds, it was perhaps the key decision from the coaching team that led to the win.



But it meant flanker Deon Fourie had to cover at hooker, a position he had not played in five years and never at test level.



His is a remarkable story, having been the oldest Springbok debutant in history at the age of 35 in July 2022. He played 77 minutes of the final in the front row of the scrum after an early injury for starter Bongi Mbonambi and ended up as captain of the side with Kolisi off the field at the final whistle.



“If you had told me two years ago that I would be standing here with a World Cup winner’s medal, I would’ve laughed and said you are smoking some weird stuff,” Fourie says.



“That emotion you saw after the whistle was relief. The last three weeks (of the tournament), winning by one point, it was stressful. Grafting it out at the end.



“There was relief, then happiness, and finally disbelief that I was on the field and winning a World Cup.”



Players like Fourie will inevitably step aside, some immediately and others in a year or two as the team builds towards the next tournament in Australia in 2027. It is the inevitable nature of a World Cup cycle and key for the Springboks will be maintaining their edge through this process.



“I see huge change coming,” Stransky says. “It will be a huge rebuilding process. In that starting line-up (in the final against New Zealand), I counted maybe five or six players who will be at the next World Cup.



“There are others in the squad who will slot in but there are also a lot of empty spaces where we will need to bring in youngsters and build a new team around some of the older hands. It will be a period of transition.”



What the Springboks have achieved is difficult to illustrate fully. Only four teams have won the World Cup in history, and no-one else has done it four times.



But aside from their on-field excellence, it is also their relatability that sets them apart. This is a team without egos, who show that hard work and unifying behind a common goal can bring the ultimate rewards.



“As a team, we want to be a reference point for our people, to show them how we can do it, and hopefully they’ll get hope from this team,” Kolisi said.



“This was not about us as players. This victory was for every South African, and we showed what is possible with this diverse team. “I hope that going forward in business, in everyday life, that we understand that the team only won because we decided to put our different cultures and differences aside and focus on the country. I think that’s the most important thing.”

New Zealand v South Africa: Final – Rugby World Cup France 2023

ROAD TO THE TROPHY: ‘This was not about us as players. This victory was for every South African’

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THE 100th ISSUE: 100 Innovations, Inventions & Icons From Africa

Saray Khumalo shares the humbling and enthralling experience of breaking barriers and summiting some of the world’s highest mountains. &nbsp;



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In May 2019, Saray Khumalo became the first&nbsp;black African woman to summit Mount Everest.&nbsp;In a recent interview with FORBES AFRICA, Khumalo speaks about her emotional, adrenaline-driven experience getting to its peak. &nbsp;



The South African has also just launched&nbsp;a&nbsp;Malaria&nbsp;No More&nbsp;emergency response&nbsp;campaign called&nbsp;The Bigger Picture Campaign&nbsp;alongside marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge and World Cup winning South African rugby captain Siya Kolisi.&nbsp;With Covid now taking up so much airtime,&nbsp;Khumalo, who has herself had&nbsp;malaria many times growing up, is helping refocus the attention on malaria, as it’s still one of the world’s deadliest diseases and especially in the African context. &nbsp;



Khumalo is also the founder of 7 Summits, an initiative that raises money for underprivileged schools through her climbing, and is now aiming for the Explorers Grand Slam involving summiting all seven of the highest peaks on the seven continents, completing a technical rock climb and reaching the North Pole as well as the South Pole.&nbsp;



With a day job as an executive at Momentum Multiply looking after e-commerce, Khumalo started mountain-climbing in 2012.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48530" width="222" height="222" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503.jpg 720w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503-80x80.jpg 80w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IMG_3503-100x100.jpg 100w" sizes="(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px" /><figcaption>Photo: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



In this interview, she says: “I made a commitment to step on top of the highest peak on every continent, but use the journey to raise money for education. And that&#8217;s where the journey started. I&#8217;ve built five libraries. And I&#8217;ve raised money. And it&#8217;s the only way we can change the narrative for the next generation.”&nbsp;



She also speaks of her harrowing experience surviving an earthquake in Nepal in 2015, and returning to summit Mount Everest in 2019, and valuing every breath.&nbsp;



“The higher you go, the more appreciative you become about where we live, and the oxygen and a lot of stuff we take for granted.&nbsp;



“I remember thinking about my mother telling me and my sisters, that ‘the sky&#8217;s the limit’ and suddenly, the clouds were beneath me. I could not see any ground. And also because it was my fourth attempt [climbing Mount Everest], you know, all the people that said I couldn&#8217;t do it, nobody like me had done it before. How wrong they were at the top! &nbsp;



“It&#8217;s just a humbling experience and it also helps you realize how much of a speck we are in the bigger scheme of things.”&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48528" width="388" height="258" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/296135805560457128_928A0540-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px" /><figcaption>Photo: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>

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‘Suddenly, The Clouds Were Beneath Me’: Why The Sky’s Not The Limit For This African

Siya Kolisi’s elevation to the captaincy of the South African national rugby side drew global interest for what it symbolized but he admits it has been a tough road to earn his place as arguably the most iconic player in the country.
Kolisi comes from a poor Eastern Cape background and having faced a number of tests of his own strength and perseverance, has risen to be among the most inspirational sportsmen in South Africa.
The importance of having a first black captain of the Springboks, which during apartheid was seen as the preserve of the white minority and the political power they yielded, cannot be understated and as such Kolisi has been fielding interviews from around the globe, including American network HBO, with the United States certainly not a traditional market for rugby content.
It is perhaps hard for younger generations to understand why Kolisi being handed the role – and wearing the same number six jersey that Francois Pienaar and former South African president Nelson Mandela at the 1995 World Cup final – is such an important moment for South African rugby, but it is all about making the game more inclusive to all races.
Anecdotal evidence of South Africans who had never watched a rugby match before rushing home to be in front of their television sets for Kolisi’s first test leading the side against England at Ellis Park on June 9 were plentiful.
Suddenly, there is a role model, an individual that many black South Africans can identify with, leading the team against another major rugby power.
<div id="attachment_37071" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-37071" class="wp-image-37071 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="740" height="493" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-694540678.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />Siya Kolisi of the Springboks during the Castle Lager Incoming Series 1st Test between South Africa and France at Loftus Versfeld Pretoria, South Africa. Photo via Getty Images</div>
But Kolisi admits that it needed a stern few words from Stormers coach Robbie Fleck in 2016 to push him in the right direction after making little impact in the early part of his career as he battled with the demands placed on a professional rugby player.
“I had a conversation with the coach and he told me I had to grow up, basically,” Kolisi tells FORBES AFRICA. “Since that day, I haven’t looked back. It’s not been easy, it’s been tough. I won’t lie, I had to mature a lot.
“Obviously now, I’m a leader at home as well, I have got kids that I must be a role model for. I had to change a lot of my ways.”
Kolisi was raised by his grandmother in the Zwide township near the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, but his sporting prowess earned him a scholarship to the prestigious Grey High School and changed his fortunes.
“I’m grateful to her, because she did everything she could to give me a life. She would go without food so that I could eat,” he said recently at a press conference.
“I couldn’t speak a word of English when I first attended Grey High, but my mates taught me and helped me with homework.
“Obviously, coming from the township and not having a lot, and coming to Grey, your dreams start becoming much bigger because you have so much. You have everything you need to be whatever you want to be.
“I started dreaming big. When I was in the township, to think that I would be here, you don’t dream like that. That’s my dream one day, to change that mentality [for others].”
Kolisi was snapped up by the Western Province Rugby Union in 2010, lured to Cape Town by their then coach Rassie Erasmus, who is now in charge of the Springboks.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2014/08/01/springbok-women-step-it-up-for-big-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Springbok Women Step It Up For Big Game</a>
He was handed the captaincy of the Stormers at the start of 2017, but there were still some murmurs of discontent from skeptical sections of the public when he was given the reins of the Springboks in June, with critics saying it was a political appointment to appease the South African government and deliver transformation targets for South African rugby.
<blockquote>“I can’t control what other people think of me, I can only control what I can do on the field,” Kolisi says.</blockquote>
“I think it is a genuine appointment by coach Rassie because he is not that kind of a person. I have known him since I was 18 years old. We sat down and he was straightforward with me and that is how it is. You always know where you stand with him.
“Coach Rassie is not a politician and neither am I. I am a rugby player and all I want to do is to play well and inspire South Africans of all races.
“I know how much of a big deal this thing is for the country and it is a great thing for me to be a role-model. As a Springbok, it is not only about rugby, it’s the things you do off the field.”
Kolisi’s first series in charge ended in a 2-1 home success over England and with a World Cup in Japan looming next year, he could be selected to lead the side at that global showpiece tournament.
But with other players who were previously named as captain ahead of him returning from injury, such as loose-forward Warren Whiteley and lock Eben Etzebeth, the ball will be in Erasmus’ court to see if he will stick with his historic appointment.
&#8211; By Nick Said

South Africa Press Conference

The New No. 6 Role Model In Rugby

For decades, Dan Qeqe Stadium, in the dusty Zwide township of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, was a bedrock of black rugby and home to African Bombers, a former first-tier club. It nurtured a handful of professionals, including Springboks Akona Ndungane and Siya Kolisi. The two were among the few blacks to represent their country and earn big money.
<div id="attachment_5060" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5060" class="size-medium wp-image-5060" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-119660385-300x181.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="181" />PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; JULY 23: Akona Ndungane of Bulls scores during the Absa Currie Cup match between Vodacom Blue Bulls and Toyota Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld on July 23, 2011 in Pretoria, South Africa (Photo by Lee Warren/ Gallo Images/Getty Images)</div>
These days Dan Qeqe is a rundown shadow of itself. The changing rooms are dilapidated and the pitch is baked hard with patches of red grass. Despite the dire condition, without fail, every winter hundreds of boys tackle each other on this pitch; the hope of becoming a Springbok lives on. As a young lad, I donned my oversized hand-me-down rugby jersey and threw my body into the tussle for the oval ball. We stomped the pitch, barefoot, until we were hardened veterans at 17. In 15 years I covered every inch and cut my knees open every week.
Fifty kilometers north of Dan Qeqe Stadium is the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, a state-of-the-art facility built for the football World Cup in 2010. It is home to Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU). In the hot days of summer, just before Christmas, this was the scene of a battle for the soul of grassroots African rugby. It was where managers from over 100 clubs fought their provincial bosses. It was so bad that a scuffle broke out and the security manhandled the angry.
It is part of a struggle to bring hope to black rugby in one of Africa’s hotbeds of the game. The problems run deep at EPRU. For years, there’s been no sponsorship due to lack of accountability; for months players weren’t paid and their reputable coach Carlos Spencer resigned; black players left in droves under claims of financial discrimination and the controversial signing of eight white players, compared to one black player, for the 2016 Super Rugby season.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5071" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_285091295-300x182.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="182" />
Bantwini Matika, the coach of the rugby club Young Collegians and a chairman of a national lobby group Rugby Transformation Coalition, led the fight.
“We have identified these problems for years and followed the due process but without any reward. Now we have seen a collapse of the whole system. Financially, never before has EP Rugby been so in the red. It’s a crisis of unprecedented proportions,” says Matika.
The clubs demanded accountability and a change of management in the provincial structure. At the top of the agenda was the non-payment of EP Kings – the provincial players.
“We are in a serious crisis in the Eastern Cape. This is the home of black rugby. The only reason we got the Super Rugby franchise was solely because Saru (the South African Rugby Union) wanted to create a platform for black players to showcase their talent to the world and for Springbok selection. This has been in the plans of Saru since time immemorial that we need a platform for black players and then the franchise was ideal… Unfortunately the Eastern Cape, which is Border and Eastern Province, has always been unstable because of a lack of resources and lack of sponsors, no solid administrators,” says Matika.
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Since 2014, EPRU has not held a quarterly meeting nor AGM. Matika says, besides the annual grant from Saru, EPRU cannot attract sponsorship because there’s no financial accountability.
“That’s a recipe for disaster. We have talent in abundance (but) our system and administration is not in place. If we don’t have ethical and decisive leadership, if we don’t have proper resources to create an enabling environment for our young people to prosper, we are doomed to fail. Hence you see them running to other unions at a young age. The rot is within the administration,” says Matika.
Mervin Green is Saru’s general manager in strategic performance. He says EPRU made it difficult for Saru to support them in running the business.
“Saru does not interfere with union’s domestic affairs, such as clubs and schools development. We support unions with finances and expertise to ensure they deliver on their own development programs. It is indeed not an ideal situation for everyone what is currently happening at EPRU. However, it is only the clubs that can change the situation,” says Green.
Transformation Rugby Coalition was launched in Soweto, Johannesburg, in 2012. Matika, the former University of Fort Hare captain and coach, was its founding chairman. He laments the lack of transformation in the Springboks.
“After realizing that all the agreements around transformation, whether it is through charters or Saru development plans since 2000, every three years we have a new document that is fruitless. All the rugby activists and (concerned) managers nationwide decided to launch this national structure in 2013 in Soweto. I am glad now we are speaking with one voice and seem to be making a difference and the approach is working for us.”
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A few months before the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, calls were made not to send the Springboks because they didn’t have enough black players. Political party, Agency for New Agenda, made a court bid to block the team from leaving. They lost the case. This followed Saru’s climb down from the 50% black Springbok representation by 2015, they moved it to 2019. The move did not go down well with Transformation Rugby Coalition.
“The disappointing factor is that we are not getting a hearing. We speak and we write to Saru but they are not interested in what we saying. At the personal and individual capacity, Saru President Oregan Hoskins would respond with promises but there’s nothing happening, nor do we get any recognition from Sascoc (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee). We would expect that as a lobby group we should have a budget from government but we are currently sustaining ourselves from our own pockets,” says Matika.
The African dream of playing professional rugby reaches far beyond the Eastern Cape. It’s mid-January, a thousand kilometers north of Dan Qeqe stadium. About 40 barefoot boys, aged between nine and 13, are taken through their paces on a rugby field in Braamfischerville, at the Soweto Rugby Club. Their coach is 35-year-old, chubby and outspoken, Zola Ntlokoma.
“We don’t only create rugby players here, we encourage discipline and we want them to pass with good marks. If you don’t go to school, we have no business with you,” Ntlokoma tells me.
Like his counterpart, Matika in Port Elizabeth, Ntlokoma decries the lack of support for grassroots rugby and asserts that he will transform Braamfischerville into a rugby hotbed. Soweto is a football area with three clubs in the Premier Soccer League.
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“Out of 49 townships there’s none with a junior team anymore after [the Golden] Lions Rugby Union took over development and government pumped money to them to champion development. But the money is not filtered down to grassroots where it is needed most. Hence we were forced by those circumstances to form Soweto Rugby Union. It’s not a racial thing, it is just we are tired of complaining. We won’t beg someone to play rugby, we love rugby,” he says.
Ntlokoma, who is also the secretary of Transformation Rugby Coalition, says in the 1990s Soweto Rugby Club dominated the Golden Lions Rugby junior teams with star player Stanley Mlotshwa representing the junior national team in 1998. The last was Malungisa Nkosi, who played for the under-19s in the World Championships in 2006, in Dubai.
Transformation Rugby Coalition researched why black players were not as involved in South African rugby as they should be.
“We discovered that rugby is not run as it is portrayed in the media. There’s a lot that our government doesn’t understand about how rugby runs. We felt that this is a mafia-like organization. It is held to ransom by businesspeople in Stellenbosch who are controlling the executive of Saru, telling them this is the direction they must take. It is that rich white group that decides who is going to be the president of Saru and the coach of the Springboks,” says Ntlokoma.
“Englishmen introduced rugby in South Africa, not the Afrikaners. Now should we give up and say it is the Afrikaners’ sport, I don’t think we will be doing justice to back off. It is a South African sport, that’s why we should continue embracing it. Some of us still hate the Springbok emblem because it reminds us of apartheid… I was a gangster and this sport gave me a second chance in life. Rugby, like any other sport, it changes people’s lives,” he says.
Liz McGregor, a rugby writer based in Cape Town, says Saru has enough money to expedite transformation. She’s sceptical about the target of 50% black representation in 2019.
“If our promising young black players are not being given regular game time at this level now, the next target – 50% of black Springboks by 2019 – also looks like a chimera. I have heard complaints about marginalization from black players for years, at provincial and national level. If the strategic transformation plan were effective, marginalization should be a thing of the past,” she says.
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McGregor raises concerns about Hoskins’ silence about the failure to hit targets in the Springbok teams.
“Grassroots development will always be a key strategic imperative of Saru. The current strategic transformation plan emphasizes the importance of this transformation dimension. We are actively involved in all unions to ensure we provide access to the game and particularly focusing on schools where there was no rugby before,” counters Green.
Green says Saru’s recruitment drive in 2015 saw 80,000 new players from over 300 schools around South Africa.
“The program for participation will be extended to high schools this year and we hope to reach township and rural schools to be in organized leagues. Our focus is also on capacitation programs of thousands of teachers and volunteers as certificated coaches, match officials and administrators,” says Green.
Clearly there are not enough to help more black Africans play the sport.
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