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Siya Kolisi reveals former All Black legend convinced him of France move

Racing Metro 92 newly recruited player South-Africa' Siya Kolisi poses with his jersey after his official presentation at the headquarters of the French top14 rugby union club, in Le Plessis-Robinson, outside Paris, on November 9, 2023. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP via Getty Images)
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Double-World Cup winner Siya Kolisi has revealed how former All Black legend Dan Carter played a part in influencing his decision to leave South Africa and join Racing 92 in France.

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After captaining the Springboks to a second straight Rugby World Cup title, the loose forward joined his new club last week and was seen in attendance at his side’s clash with Stade Francais.

Kolisi explained that his move to France was “the missing piece” in his career after playing the entirety of his rugby in South Africa, firstly with the Stormers and then with the Durban-based Sharks.

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He held talks with former Racing players Yannick Nyanga, who finished his career there with four seasons, and ex-All Black legend Dan Carter who helped the club to a Top 14 title in 2016.

The Top 14’s reputation as one of the most competitive rugby tournaments was also a major draw for the 32-year-old.

“I can’t wait to play. The Top 14 is the missing piece for me. I came for the reputation, it is one of the most difficult championships in the world. I have to prove myself on the pitch,” he told RugbyRama.

“I spoke to Cameron [Woki] and Yannick [Nyanga] before signing. Dan Carter also had an influence on my coming.”

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Racing 92’s majority owner and club chairmen Jacky Lorenzetti also played a part in recruiting Kolisi the player, not the brand, as the club looks to capture more success.

The Springbok captain said the club is looking to emulate the likes of Toulon and Toulouse who have won league titles and European titles.

“Jacky Lorenzetti told me he wanted to recruit the rugby player, not the superstar. I really appreciated this,” he said.

“Racing 92 is a club that has not achieved as much as Toulon or Toulouse so we have something to build and I want to be part of this history.

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“I’ve played in South Africa all my life and to move to a new club, so different, it’s special. But my teammates and Jacky [Lorenzetti], made things easier for me.

“My family moved before me so everything is going very well.”

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cnw 1 hour ago
France has conquered and reconquered Europe. Can it reach its Mount Everest?

It’s mind boggling that the best are not playing the best in July! Though the commercial reality bites here. On the B/C/D I think the issue is one of communicating ideas. You point out that in reality the majority of the players were third or fourth choice or perhaps worse. And the way you explained it as someone who clearly knows the French comp that makes sense. So I accept that it was perhaps a third or fourth choice team overall. I should be clear though I think that the quality of the team exceeded the sum of its parts. And I think a D grade is way too low. Their performance was too good to get such a grade. And I think that reflects that they are very good players who had a good chance to build combinations. Would the first choice players have played better - very likely. But that does not diminish the performance of the boys that played.

Put another way, I understand that the French team that played the Boks had a good number of first choice players in stark contrast to the teams that played in NZ. But they did not perform like an “A” team - clearly they had only got together just before that game. They started well but the lack of match readiness showed in the second half. In contrast the Boks had both their first choice team that was a battle hardened unit - and they played their A game, as they did against the ABs first choice team in Wellington. In contrast the first choice ABs beat the then first choice Boks in Auckland - it was the best performance all year by the ABs - it was an A grade performance (the Bok dominance in the forwards notwithstanding).



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