The lights of Paris shimmer against a cold November sky as Siya Kolisi strides out onto the hallowed turf of the Stade de France. The roar is deafening, a wall of sound that feels like it could lift the stadium off its foundations. In that moment, as he leads the Springboks for his 100th test, the boy from Zwide becomes the man who rewrote history.
It’s hard to reconcile this scene with the image of a skinny kid kicking a scuffed soccer ball on a dusty street, dreaming of vetkoeks as a prize for victory. Back then, hunger was a constant companion, and hope was a fragile thing.
His grandmother Nolulamile was his anchor, the one person who loved him unconditionally. “Without her, I wouldn’t be here,” Siya would later write. She went without food so he could eat. When she died in his arms at 12, the world felt colder than ever.
Zwide could have swallowed him whole. Drugs, petrol sniffing, the lure of gang life, Kolisi admits he was on the brink. “I could have ended up a tsotsi,” he reflected. Jail or death. Or both. Then came the African Bombers rugby club and a coach named Eric Songwiqi, whose bark was worse than his bite but whose influence was life-changing.
Siya left that first brutal training session exhausted, bruised, bleeding - and reborn. “From that first session, I never looked back. I never smoked weed or sniffed petrol again.”
A scholarship to Grey High School opened doors he never knew existed. He watched the Springboks train there, eyes locked on Schalk Burger, his hero. Too shy to ask for an autograph, a teacher shoved a pen in his hand.
That signature remains one of his prized possessions. Years later, Burger would be his teammate and friend - a full-circle moment that speaks to the improbable arc of Kolisi’s life.
In 2018, Siya shattered a 128-year barrier, becoming the first black captain of the Springboks. In a country still wrestling with the ghosts of apartheid, his appointment was more than a rugby decision - it was a statement of unity, diversity, and hope.
He led with humility and conviction, guided by a philosophy he calls SPRINGBOK: Self, Positivity, Resilience, Inclusivity, Natural, Genuine, Bravery, Objectivity, Knowledge.
Then came the glory years. Yokohama, 2019: Kolisi lifts the Webb Ellis Cup after dismantling England in the World Cup final. Cape Town, 2021: He steers South Africa to a Lions Series win. Paris, 2023: Another World Cup, another seismic triumph - this time by a single point over New Zealand.
Add the Rugby Championship crowns, the Freedom Cup, and a cabinet full of rivalry trophies, and you have a captain whose resume gleams brighter than the gold on his jersey.
But success brings weight. “I’m not perfect,” Siya says, “but I can’t afford to disappoint society and the young children who look up to me.” That pressure is real, yet he wears it lightly, channeling it into purpose.
The Kolisi Foundation tackles gender-based violence, food insecurity, and education gaps. His mantra is simple, profound: “There’s no freedom until everyone is free, no safety till everyone is safe, and no equality until everyone is equal.”
Homesickness once pulled him away from Racing 92, a reminder that even icons crave the familiar rhythms of home - the braai smoke, the laughter, the language. Now, back in South Africa, he stands on the brink of immortality.
One hundred tests. A century of courage, resilience, and leadership. As Siya Kolisi walks out in Paris, he carries more than a ball. He carries a nation’s story - a story that began on a dusty street in Zwide and now echoes across the rugby world.
And when the whistle blows, remember this: Siya Kolisi didn’t just make history. He made hope possible.