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By now, South Africans – and to a lesser extent, rugby fans around the world – are familiar with Siya Kolisi’s remarkable life story.
Tales from his Grey High School days are well known and the release of Rise, his autobiography, further pulled back the curtain on the hardships he faced growing up.
To become Springbok captain, and a World Cup-winning one no less (day 1 070 of 1 449 as world champions, someone remind Ben Smith), is always going to be a story worth revisiting time and time again.
What’s especially interesting about Siya’s recent interview with the US-based show 60 Minutes is to see how his experience is framed for that audience.
CBS News, which runs the show, released this snippet ahead of the interview airing:
I’d debate that “fluid continuity” description, given the constant stop / start nature of the modern game and the continuous involvement of the television match official in every minute decision, but “obliterating everything in the way” is certainly true for the likes of Malcolm Marx and Eben Etzebeth, among others.
Over the past few days, snippets from the interview, which aired on Sunday in the US, have been released on YouTube, including an appearance by Francois Pienaar:
In these clips from Twitter, Siya opened up about building trust within the team environment and the role played by his wife, Rachel, in shaping both his career and who he is as a man:
“I always call [rugby] controlled violence. That’s what happens here.”
Siya Kolisi, the first Black player to be named captain of South Africa’s national rugby team, describes for @jon_wertheim what the physicality of rugby amounts to. https://t.co/mVBR6yjV7y pic.twitter.com/vIB1RjW3iq
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 5, 2022
“We are human beings before we’re sportsmen… and the more we talk to [one] another, the more we understand each other,” Siya Kolisi tells @jon_wertheim about the importance of building trust on a once racially segregated team. https://t.co/mVBR6y2kg0 pic.twitter.com/crJe6rt4gX
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 5, 2022
This clip, in particular, is telling:
“I want to be a better man, and I want to learn,” Siya Kolisi says about being in therapy. “I want to be the generation of Black men that are there for their children…that are telling their woman that they love them, not only about words, by action too.” pic.twitter.com/eBIip7DZ4V
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 5, 2022
“How can we use this opportunity not just to help us, but to help others around us, in our country?” Siya Kolisi tells @jon_wertheim about using sporting glory to enrich South Africa. https://t.co/mVBR6yjV7y pic.twitter.com/KBZZMprWTm
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 5, 2022
The next time Siya gets to pull on the green and gold is November 5, when the Springboks take on Ireland.
Our overseas tour ends with a clash against England at Twickenham on November 26.
You can see the full 60 Minutes interview here.
[source:cbs]
