Watch VideoSiya Kolisi hails ‘best ever’ Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus after receiving Spirit of 1995 Award

SPRINGBOK captain Siya Kolisi is the first recipient of the Spirit of 1995 Award, which honours the first Springbok team to win the World Cup, and at the first attempt. Siya Kolisiwas humility personified on Thursday evening at theSA Rugby Players Awardswhen he dedicated his Spirit of 1995 Award to his Springbok teammateswhile hailing coach Rassie Erasmusas the best coach the game has seen. Kolisi is the first recipient of the Spirit of 1995 Award, which honours the first Springbok team to win the World Cup, and at the first attempt.

Kolisi — who was also honoured for his 100th Test cap on the November tour — received the award for his “exceptional contribution in uplifting the game and the nation, through the example of inclusivity andubuntu, demonstrating iconic and inspirational leadership to the sport and the country, in the footsteps of the example set by Nelson Mandela in 1995”. An emotional Kolisi said, “It is tough to get an individual award when you are playing a team sport. Nothing any individual achieves is without the team, so it is really special.

“We know what the 1995 team has done for South Africa, and we’re grateful,” Kolisi said. “We’re able to achieve such great things now as a team with so many people who sacrificed a lot before us and couldn’t wear the jersey. “I’m honoured and thankful, but I know I am nothing without my teammates.” Kolisi singled out Erasmus as instrumental in the Springboks winning two World Cups and putting smiles on the faces of South Africans.

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“Coach Rassie is special. For me, he is the best (coach) to ever do it. “I think Rassie understands South Africa, where South Africa is going, and he is honest with the players about telling us some of the things that need to be achieved in South Africa while winning.

“I recall in Japan, and I can’t remember who we were playing, but we were sitting in a circle, and he looked at us, told us one by one that while there were some players that were better than us, we were the right people. “In life, some struggles you face are meant to tear you down,” Kolisi continued. “Rassie looked at us and told us that what we had gone through was the reason he had chosen us. Some of the stuff we went through was harder than playing Test match rugby.

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