Siya Kolisi believes coach Rassie Erasmus transformed the Springboks by instilling a belief that the team is bigger than any individual.
The captain opened up about Erasmus’ influence after the Boks claimed a 3-1 series victory over the All Blacks following a 43-28 triumph in Baltimore.
Kolisi says the foundation of the Boks’ success under Erasmus has been a fundamental change in mentality.
“I would say we changed when Coach came and he had a plan on how to change things going forward. I think our mentality at the time wasn’t in a good place,” said Kolisi.
“He reminded us how important this team is and how powerful this team has been in the past. And also that the team is more important than the individual, but the individuals make the team work.”
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“He made a group of South Africans from different parts of life all focus on one [goal]. We all came in with our different goals, we all wanted to achieve different things, and we speak 11 languages in our team.
“But our main focus was to make the Springbok proud and make the people of South Africa proud.”
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Kolisi also explained why Erasmus has commanded such loyalty within the Bok camp.
“He was honest and upfront, with his coaching staff, on what was the way going forward and how we were going to do it,” he said.
“He backed us, believed in us, fought for us. We just want to play for him and play for the country.”
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Kolisi also said the rivalry and friendship with the All Blacks run deep. After the final whistle, the teams shared a heartfelt moment.
“We just came together to thank each other for the series. We go at each other all the time, but we get along off the field. There’s no hiding that we’re good friends but we’re tough when we’re on the field.
“We said a prayer afterwards and it was a really special moment.”
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
The post Siya: Rassie reminded us how powerful we are appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Siya Kolisi believes coach Rassie Erasmus transformed the Springboks by instilling a belief that the team is bigger than any individual.
The post Siya: Rassie reminded us how powerful we are appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
