Siya Kolisi's classy gesture after alleged Jordie Barrett snub

The double World Cup winning champion Springboks arrived in South Africa today, touching down at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg to an overwhelming reception of thousands of adoring fans.

After making their way through the crowd, coach Jacques Nienaber and captain Siya Kolisi, joined by the Webb Ellis trophy, addressed the media to reflect on their tournament in general, and various moments in the 12-11 victory over New Zealand.

Just as time was coming to a close, Kolisi showed the kind of class we’ve come to expect from him, getting the attention of everyone in the room for one final comment.

“Just on a more of a sensitive note… I don’t know if you guys have seen, but after the game, there was a video that went out on TikTok about Jordie Barrett, that somebody thinks he didn’t shake the president’s hand,” the skipper explained.

“He’s been getting a lot of bad media, people are being hard on him. But obviously, it’s tough losing a World Cup final, and obviously getting that kind of negative media is not good, and I know him personally, he’s someone that I know very well… He’s not that kind of person.

“The video was taken probably after he shook the hand.. he obviously shook the president’s hand.”

Watch the alleged incident here:

They all shook Pres hand. The camera just cut back after Jordie had already done so and you can see Pres shakes Beauden’s hand as he comes up the stairs. Think we can all relax now. pic.twitter.com/uyfpdGDGhs

— JamesR (@Vlad_Drac77) October 31, 2023

“And we just want to say, we the South African team, I spoke to coach Jacques (Nienaber) about it, we are fully behind him. We respect New Zealand a lot, they respect us a lot, so please just give him some slack. Let’s just celebrate.

“There’s nothing worse than losing a game and then also being on (social) media and getting all these kind of messages. It’s really been tough for him, and obviously the team and his family, but the South African team, we’re all behind him.

“So please, if you can.. he did shake the president’s hand. Thank you.”

[WATCH] #Springboks captain Siya Kolisi comments on Jordie Barrett not shaking President Cyril Ramaphosa’s hand after the #RWC2023 final: “It’s tough losing a world cup final.” #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/6pdoisJ9Us

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) October 31, 2023

The Springboks will now embark on a four-day bus top trophy tour around the country, as they did in 2019, allowing fans to get closer to their heroes.

Starting on Thursday, 2 November, they will visit Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto, – concluding at FNB Stadium – and then Cape Town (Friday) and Durban (Saturday) before concluding in the Eastern Cape (East London) on Sunday.

On a related note, it looks as though South African fans have figured out how Barrett missed that all important long-range penalty kick late in the game.

pic.twitter.com/zFliIFalAS

— Bamsquad (@BoknRoll) October 30, 2023