South Africa Wins Rugby World Cup

South Africa faces off against Fiji in one match of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in Marseille, France which ultimately becomes the second Rugby World Cup South Africa wins. (Wikimedia Commons)

The South African national team, the Springboks, won the Rugby World Cup for the third time on November 2 in Yokohama, Japan. Siya Kolisi, the team’s first black captain in its 128-year history, led the charge to victory. This win, like their first win in 1995, has the potential to foster greater unity in a country with a deep history of racial division.

Tom Fordyce, chief sports writer for BBC, writes, “Rugby matters in many places around the world, but only in South Africa can it change the nation around it.” He suggests that such was the case as South African citizens cheered the Springboks’ victory over England and greeted the team in high spirits upon their arrival at the airport. However, behind the jubilance lies a dark history. 

Just five years ago, before the Springboks were set to play for South Africa, Zola Ntlokoma, secretary of Soweto Rugby Club, a traditional black township club, said, “I do not care how the Springboks team does. It is not a reflection of the nation. It is not our team. I support the All Blacks instead. We don't support the national team, because it is a white South African team. It is not a true South African team.”

Because the Springboks were an all-white rugby team in South Africa, they did not garner widespread support, especially given the country’s history with apartheid, a system of racial segregation that existed from 1948 to the early 1990s. During apartheid and even after its end, many people in South Africa saw the Springboks as a representation of apartheid rather than a symbol of national unity. 

When South Africa won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 for the first time, it was a historic moment for sports and the country’s politics. Following Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1994, one of his moves to inspire national unity was to support the newly integrated Springboks and encourage all South Africans regardless of race to do the same. Mandela was able to join forces with—and eventually become close friends with—the white Afrikaaner captain of the team, François Pienaar. When the team won, people of all backgrounds celebrated across the country. Rather than being seen as a symbol of apartheid and segregation, the Springboks became a culturally unifying force, and that spirit has carried to the present day. 

John Carlin, foreign journalist and author of the book behind the Academy Award-winning film Invictus, said of the 1995 World Cup, “It was far, far, far more than a sporting event. I've never come across a more politically significant, emotional... moment then [sic.] what was witnessed at the World Cup.”

Now, with Siya Kolisi, the Springboks’ first black captain, leading the team to victory, the country takes another step toward transformation and integration. Not only is Kolisi the team’s first black captain, but he also grew up in a poor, primarily black part of South Africa. Hanyani Shimange, a former Springboks player, said of Kolisi, “His story is unique.... Previous generations of black rugby players were not given the same opportunities, purely because of South Africa's laws. He's living the dream of people who weren't given the same opportunities as him.” Kolisi’s life is both a demonstration of progress occurring but also of the work left to be done. The integration of black players in rugby has been surprisingly slow, similar to other processes of desegregation in South Africa. However, Kolisi’s historic success gives many South Africans hope. 

While the country has made strides since the days of apartheid, politics and class structures remain divided along racial lines, and racist incidents, including violent assualts by whites on blacks, continue to occur. 

Nevertheless, in this moment of unity, Kolisi expressed hope as he called out, “We love you, South Africa. We can achieve anything if we work together as one.”