Sia Kolisi: “I couldn’t even dream of being here today”

“How do you feel after this new world champion title?
There is not a lot that goes wrong in our country, and we have the privilege of doing what we love, and being able to inspire people, not just those who love sports. Coming from where I come from, I couldn’t even dream of being here today. We come from different backgrounds. I had my own goals and ambitions. I want to take care of my family, and I want to give back to my community what they gave me. You have to come to South Africa to understand. When we are together, nothing can stop us, not only in sports but also in life. We can’t promise to always win, but to give it our all.

The New Zealanders received two cards including a red card for Sam Keane. The Springboks got two and you in particular got a yellow…
It’s never good for a player to get a card, but we knew after he got the red card that he would come back again. We talked about it during the break and they did it. After the yellow card, it was difficult but I had confidence in my team-mates, we have been in this situation before. When I came back, I gave everything.

You overcame many challenges in the final stage to win this cup…
Our coaches told us that great things don’t happen in perfect circumstances, and these circumstances were not perfect. We had to play against the home team and that was one of the most difficult things. The semi-final match against England was very close. We had to fight and that’s the case again today (Saturday) finally. Motivation came from everywhere, from home, from our families. The coaches created an environment for us where we could be with our families, no matter where we were, we felt at home. There are 15 or 20 kids running around the hotel. This is one of the greatest things the staff has been able to do for us. »