Siya Kolisi's stint as Springbok waterboy has generated a shower of praise on social media
Despite being ruled out of the Springboks’ victory over Australia at the weekend, captain Siya Kolisi remained part of the action as he served as a waterboy for his team.
The flanker was out with a knee injury and it has since been confirmed that he will miss the next two Test matches against the All Blacks and Argentina, but he was still seen running up and down the touchline helping his team-mates.
The 28-year-old has been adulated on social media by South African fans, being described as a “true leader”, “humble” and for showing “what true leadership is”.
The way in which Kolisi congratulated debutant Herschel Jantjies after he came off the field embodies his commitment to his team and his attitude.
While some may dispute his place in the team purely on his playing credentials, there is no denying that many fans appreciate the leadership qualities that he brings.
Springbok depth, not starting XV, was the winner on Saturday
– writes @alexshawsport ??? https://t.co/mVLhvlOuag
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 21, 2019
This is a similar situation that the Springboks have had in past World Cups, particularly when John Smit was selected ahead of Bismarck du Plessis simply based on his leadership qualities. Smit led the Springboks to World Cup victory in 2007, so that decision was always vindicated.
Similarly, with the wealth of talent at Rassie Erasmus’ disposal, some may argue that there are better flankers, but Kolisi has already exhibited his leadership skills.
Furthermore, prior to his injury, the Stormers flanker was also in terrific form and worthy of a starting berth for his nation. This is what the fans have said:
I’ve never seen a captain who was a water boy in SA Rugby? Kolisi did that today. Couldn’t play but was willing to give his troopers some water! We are led Siyamthanda ??
— Ntumekelelo Kondile (@ntumz1) July 20, 2019
Captain Siya Kolisi is today’s water Boy… Maaan this Bloke is way humble… #SAvsAus
— Bomza mafanya (@bomza_mafanya) July 20, 2019
Siya Kolisi bringing out the drinks for the boys today. Not only a father of four, but a humble leader. ??
— Sibongile Mafu (@sboshmafu) July 20, 2019
Siya Kolisi, what a great leader. A true definition of servant leadership.. Truly inspiring seeing him running up & down serving his teammates despite the injury. Call him a water boy, I call him a servant & inspiring, true leader. #GoBokke @Springboks pic.twitter.com/9HdBJSDXHA
— Sifiso Gumede (@Sifiso_Gumede) July 21, 2019
Siya Kolisi wasn’t the first-ever captain to play waterboy for his team while injured,but it underlined his commitment to the cause. As someone said: “In order to lead, you must first serve.”
Throwback to my piece from ‘18 when he was 1st appointedhttps://t.co/qxgIsFWWaV pic.twitter.com/VcQl6R2Zaa
— Derek Alberts (@derekalberts1) July 21, 2019
Siya Kolisi wanted to be at the game so bad he was even willing to be the water boy. We are led ??
— L O Y D (@DJLOYD) July 20, 2019
Injured bok captain Siya Kolisi serving his team as waterboy. Leadership.
— Brad Preston (@BradNPreston) July 20, 2019
How about Siya Kolisi being the water guy! Surely the first Bok captain ever to perform that duty. #bokke
— Penza (@pedvr) July 20, 2019
@Siya_Kolisi what a great example as our captain. Supporting your team by serving them. Give that man a bells!
— Theresa Brits (@theresabrits) July 20, 2019
Siya Kolisi being a waterboy has shown me what true true leadership is
— black hugh hefner (@sandiledube_) July 20, 2019
Alongside Eben Etzebeth, the Springboks have two leaders in the pack that will put them in good stead for the Rugby Championship and the World Cup.
However, while Kolisi is back in training and set to play for Western Province in the Currie Cup, it is unclear when he will return to the Springboks fold. But he is still leading the team any way he can and has won over many fans in the process.
WATCH: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus fronts up to media after the win over the Wallabies
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
13 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
13 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
13 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to comments