The Springboks have won South Africa over not only by their successes but through their authenticity

There are many traits that make sports teams great and they’re not all the same. Different coaches, different players and different cultures mean that success and love are not homogenous.

The Springboks, through their coach Rassie Erasmus and inspirational captain Siya Kolisi, have found their identity. Which in itself is a truly amazing feat considering the team comprises a wide cross-section of South African society.

And as anyone who lives here, or has spent time in South Africa, knows, it is complex. It is not so much divided (at least not as much as some politicians would like it to be), but it is compartmentalised.

Rassie and Siya have found a way to transcend those compartments and bring people out of their comfort zones and to embrace diversity and culture by positioning the Springboks as the common ground to bind people.

There are many overseas rugby analysts who find the Boks’ constant mantra of “playing for South Africa to give people hope” saccharine. And maybe from the outside looking in, it can appear that way.

But the ubiquitous phrase of the day – “hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie” – has never been more appropriate in the Springbok context. Most non-South Africans really don’t know what we know because South Africa is not just people and places – it’s a feeling. And the Boks have tapped into that “gees”.

Winning has been an important component of their rise from a team that many in South Africa tolerated, even occasionally supported, but never truly connected with, to one that the entire country loves.

The past two weeks with a double-header against the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town underlined that love again.

In 2018, Rassie and the team caught the nation’s attention and started the courting process with Kolisi’s elevation to Bok captain.

That changed the narrative around the team. People who previously viewed the Boks as a representation of their country on the international stage, but not of them as people, shifted their outlook. Suddenly the Boks had an on-field leader who looked like 80% of the country and wanted everybody to share in the Bok journey.

When the team started winning – first toppling the mighty All Blacks in Wellington in 2018 and then winning Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan – the courting process with the nation was no longer platonic.

Over the next four years, through Covid and more winning, culminating in last year’s dramatic RWC 2023 title in France, the entire country and people from every compartment were swept along and fell in love with the team.

Authenticity

Winning was an essential ingredient to make people take notice and watch them. But it was not, and never will be, enough to make people love the team like they do now. That required something intangible.

The Boks have embraced their status as nation builders through their deeds and actions, through their genuine love for the country and by embracing everyone as a valued supporter.

Courage, excellence, commitment and sacrifice are all traits this squad has displayed in abundance to ensure the overarching trait – winning – is met.

But perhaps the vital characteristic of this team and this era, which might only last as long as Siya and Rassie last with the Boks, is their authenticity.

They are unashamedly South African – from their warmth and humour, to their hard edge and controlled violence on the field.

The notion of their authenticity has always hovered over them, but it only galvanised in my thinking on Saturday night after the Boks had beaten the All Blacks 18-12 at Cape Town Stadium to win the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009.

Erasmus, speaking to the media, told a story of how his medication to treat a rare autoimmune disease makes him go to the loo often.

At the stadium, the coaches boxes back on to the public concourse, and the public toilets are much closer than the changerooms or the media facilities.

Erasmus dashed off to relieve himself and found a long queue at the men’s. The women’s was almost empty and a lady ushered him in there, only to find another woman inside. “And then I got stage fright,” Erasmus quipped.

Who else would tell a story like that? It was as authentic and as South African as it gets.

Oversharing?

Erasmus speaks openly, within reason (gameplans are not revealed) in most of his media engagements because that’s who he is. As one travelling New Zealander wryly and possibly enviously remarked, “he is a chronic oversharer”.

We’d have it no other way.

Kolisi too speaks from a place of deep authenticity around feelings and what it means to play for the Boks and give people hope. On Saturday, playing a blinder with a broken nose, Kolisi displayed that authenticity again.

“The coach gave his trust in me when I told him I was okay and ready to play,” Kolisi said about their conversation in the build-up to the game. “I had to prove it to him on the field. I couldn’t go at anything half-heartedly.

“No one is going to celebrate you just because you say you’re going to go flat out. I know that guys like Kwagga (Smith) and Marco (Van Staden) wanted an opportunity. I owed it to them. This game was the biggest for us after last year’s World Cup final (when the Boks beat the All Blacks 12-11).”

It’s that authenticity that can’t be faked. Kolisi speaks to the media and therefore to the public, as he speaks to his teammates. Erasmus too. They lay it out for all to see and hear and then ask to be judged on their performances and not curated statements.

The All Blacks, by contrast, gave little more than one-line answers to questions. They were guarded and more introverted than previous iterations – which might be down to losing three games in the Rugby Championship.

That’s the thing with authenticity though – it manifests differently to different people and groups.

If Rassie and the Boks are chronic oversharers, and they are by professional sports team standards – good on them. Their success is underpinned by their authenticity because it’s an honest extension of who they are.

The Boks might “only” be a sports team, but they are a sports team like no other, who have captured the hearts and heads of a country through their authenticity and become beloved in a way that only South Africans can really understand. DM