#RWC2019: Captains & Presidents, Politics & Power, New Dreams & Old Scars – First Black Bok Captain Carries The Weight Of An Expectant Nation

You walk out in a Springbok jersey as a player and you feel history on your back and by your side.

You stand as South Africa’s captain in a World Cup final and the weight is greater across your shoulders and the ghosts crowd in all around.

Francois Pienaar hoisting the Webb Ellis Cup at Ellis Park in 1995, Nelson Mandela alongside him in his own green number six jersey, happy like a kid who has just scored his first try.

John Smit at the Stade de France in Paris 12 years on, left hand around the old gold pot, right hand linked with Mandela’s successor Thabo Mbeki.

Twelve years more have passed. Now it is the turn of Siya Kolisi to walk that path. The first black man to captain the Springboks, a kid from nowhere who hopes to go where none have gone before.

Rugby matters in many