LONG READ How Siya Kolisi has emerged from the shadows to become South Africa's GOAT

South Africans love a selection debate, and over the past few months, there’s been a lot of talk about the two golden eras of Springbok rugby and who would make the cut in a combined match 23. It’s a tough ask to limit the selection, especially in areas like the back row.

Back in 2009, the Boks boasted the likes of Schalk Burger, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Danie Rossouw and Heinrich Brüssow, while more recent stars include Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Francois Louw.

When considering the candidates objectively, the number of game-shaping performances, overall wins, trophies, as well as wins in marquee fixtures and big tournaments like the World Cup should shape the final selection.

And when you look at the back-row exercise from that perspective, one name stands above all others: Siya Kolisi.

Indeed, there’s a case to be made for Kolisi as the greatest Bok captain of all time, the greatest loose forward, and certainly one of the greatest players.

Kolisi will become the ninth South African to win 100 Test caps when he leads the Boks against France in Paris this Saturday – joining Percy Montgomery, John Smit, Victor Matfield, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Beast Mtawarira, Eben Etzebeth and Willie le Roux in an elite club.

While he has been in the system for 12 years, it’s only in the last eight – since the arrival of coaches Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber – that he’s realised his potential as a player and a leader.

On the eve of his 100th Test, it’s worth reflecting on the impact he’s had for South Africa off the field.

Growing up in Zwide, a township some 15 km outside of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, Kolisi harnessed his love and aptitude for rugby to escape a life of poverty when he won his first contract with Western Province in 2010.

Three years later, Kolisi won his first cap against Scotland in Nelspruit, and six years after that, he became the first black African to lead the Boks to the World Cup title.

It was on that unforgettable evening in Yokohama that Kolisi took the opportunity to speak about what the trophy meant for the team and for South Africa as a whole.

The earnest manner in which he spoke about the troubled, complicated country won him a lot of admirers, and set him on a different course.

In the wake of that World Cup, the Bok skipper used his newfound fame to launch the Kolisi Foundation and tackle burning issues such as gender-based violence and poverty.

Through his charity work, he got the chance to rub shoulders with like-minded individuals, such as former Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp and tennis legend Roger Federer.

While he deserves all the plaudits for what he’s achieved off the field, it would be criminal to deny Kolisi his due for the contribution he’s made as a player.

Erasmus has continued to pick him to start, and continued to back him to lead.

It can’t be a coincidence that Kolisi is the common denominator across 28 of South Africa’s 30 biggest wins over the past eight years.

Erasmus and Nienaber’s Boks have won back-to-back World Cups (2019 and 2023), a British & Irish Lions Test series (2021), as well as three Rugby Championships (2019, 2024 and 2025).

When you break down that eight-year journey and start to look at who featured in South Africa’s greatest wins, some interesting patterns emerge.

The Boks have played 88 Tests since the start of the 2018 season, and boast a 72% win record for the period.

Over the course of those 88 Tests, there have been 30 significant victories – or what might be called “marquee wins”.

These include World Cup playoff triumphs, victories against the Lions, other key matches against top-ranked teams or their arch-rivals, the All Blacks, drought-ending results overseas (some spanning three decades), record-breaking performances (such as the 43-10 win in Wellington and the 67-30 blowout in Durban) as well as de facto tournament deciders like the Rugby Championship finale against Argentina in London last month.

The graphic above lists 12 players who have featured in more than 20 of those 30 wins – although it’s worth noting that other squad regulars such as Steven Kitshoff, Jesse Kriel, Ox Nché, Faf de Klerk, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman Lukhanyo Am and Jasper Wiese have all played at least half of the matches in question.

At a glance, it’s plain to see how Erasmus has built this golden era on a core of players.

While the Bok boss have favoured a rotation policy and has worked to develop multiple options across the age profiles, he has maintained a strong contingent of senior statesmen.

Discerning followers of the game won’t be surprised to see Pieter-Steph du Toit, a two-time World Rugby Player of the Year award winner, and Etzebeth, South Africa’s most-capped player of all time, on this list.

While Damian de Allende has been grossly underrated by critics and fans for most of his Test career, this graphic shows why the Bok coaches view him as an essential cog in the Bok machine.

The name at the very top of this list will come as a surprise to some, and may change the course of a few GOAT debates.

Kolisi has been doubted and criticised by many over the course of his career.

When SA Rugby held a press conference in 2018 to announce the new captain, a local journalist asked if Kolisi was a political appointment, and whether he’d been given the job because of the colour of his skin rather than his ability.

On the eve of the 2019 World Cup final, former England fly-half Stuart Barnes penned a column asking whether the Boks would be better served starting Francois Louw ahead of Kolisi in the decider in Yokohama.

While Barnes acknowledged that Kolisi was a unifying force, he wondered if Louw was the better rugby player that might boost South Africa’s chances of winning.

As it was, Erasmus stuck with Kolisi at No 6 and Louw as the bench option, and the Boks went on to thrash England 32-12.

Two years later, Kolisi made a try-saving tackle on Lions centre Robbie Henshaw, and changed the course of the second Test as well as the series as a whole. The Boks went on to clinch the rubber 2-1.

Kolisi was named Player of the Year at SA Rugby’s annual prize-giving, and nominated for the same award at the end of 2022.

When he broke down with a serious knee injury in early 2023, many wrote him off, yet he returned to lead the Boks to another World Cup title in France.

The subsequent stint at Racing 92 was supposed to be his swansong, but he reversed the decision to retire from international rugby, and as fate would have it, found another gear in 2024.

Under Erasmus and new attack coach Tony Brown, Kolisi’s speed, agility and passing skills were harnessed in a more ambitious approach.

While his commitment on defence never wavered, the ageing star embraced a new role as a ball-carrier in the wider channels, and boosted the team’s potency overall.

Kolisi has featured in 28 of the 30 big wins over the past eight years.

It’s a remarkably high number that highlights his importance to the team, both as a leader and as a player.

With regards to the former role, there are several wise men who believe that Kolisi has no equal.

South African newspaper Rapport recently interviewed 1995 World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar, the 2007 World Cup-winning captain John Smit (who also guided the team to a series win against the Lions in 2009), and former skipper Gary Teichmann, who was at the helm when the Boks equalled the world record of 17 consecutive Test wins in 1998.

“It’s easy,” Pienaar said. “Siya is the best – his record speaks for itself. Excellent!”

Smit achieved a 65% winning-record during his long tenure, and currently holds the record for the most Tests as Bok captain (83).

And yet, the former hooker agrees with Pienaar.

“It’s fairly simple,” Smit said. “Several Rugby Championship trophies, a British & Irish Lions series win, a top-10 winning percentage as captain, consecutive World Cups and almost 100 Tests. Anyone who still argues is silly.”

After the recent 61-7 win against Japan, Kolisi’s winning percentage climbed to 72%.

If the Boks go on to beat France this Saturday, and finish their present tour with four or even five wins, the incumbent will surpass Teichmann altogether.

“Siya’s off-the-field contributions have solidified his legacy,” the former No 8 said. “He’s shown that there’s always a way. He’s a humble but strong leader that ensures he makes a difference in the lives of many. What a captain.”

Since the day of his appointment, Kolisi has deflected praise to his coaches and to other leaders in the squad.

While he has a key role to play on and off the field, the leadership load has often been shared with Etzebeth, Du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi, Vermeulen and others.

Nevertheless, he was the right man at the right time for South Africa in 2018, and as the more recent results suggest, he is the right man to take the Boks to the next 2027 World Cup.

After eight years with the Boks, Erasmus has to develop and introduce new players to ensure that South Africa travels to the next global tournament with the necessary balance between youth and experience.

That said, he is likely to retain a few of the warriors who won the World Cup in 2019 and 2023.

While most of the old guard will be on the wrong side of 35 by the time the team arrives in Australia in 2027, several will have more than 100 Test caps.

Of the players listed below, Etzebeth, Kolisi, De Allende, Du Toit, Kriel, Marx and Pollard should be part of Erasmus’ long-term plans, while it remains to be seen whether Le Roux and Mbonambi will continue to feature in the coming seasons.

For now, Kolisi should receive all the plaudits in the lead-up to a monumental achievement that will mean a great deal to the wider South African fanbase.

The stats show why he has featured for the Boks during an era of unprecedented success, why he should remain at the coalface in the coming seasons, and why he is one of the greatest players to have played the sport.