Siya Kolisi credited his teammates for their support as he prepares to play his 50th Test as Springbok captain in the World Cup match against Tonga on Sunday.
Kolisi will reach the landmark when he leads the Springboks out in the crucial Pool B clash in Marseille on Sunday night.
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During a press conference on Friday, the loose forward admitted that it was “difficult” at first to captain his nation, despite the previous experience of leading Robbie Fleck’s Stormers team.
“I’ve always been the joker in the team, the naughty one,” Kolisi said. “Coach Fleckie came to my wedding and he heard me speak. After the wedding he said, ‘I think you should lead the team’.
“He gave me the captaincy after that but it took a while. I would always be the joker, the last one at the party, the drunkest one in the room, and now I must be something different. It took a while but I just try to be myself in everything I do.
“Here at the Springboks, that was tough. It was really difficult at the beginning because I don’t think there’s any greater honour, other than playing for the Springboks, to captain a team like this with its history and everything. Being the first black captain, it was difficult.
“In my mind I was being captain of the Springboks, it’s a big thing already, but for so many people it meant so much more and I didn’t understand the weight of it.
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“I was fortunate to have the players we have in the group; Duane [Vermeulen], Eben [Etzebeth] who has captained the team, Pieter-Steph [du Toit] who has captained the team, Handre Pollard – I honestly wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have the guys that we have and also the coaching staff.
“Coach Rassie [Erasmus] understood. He knows me. He’s known me since I was 17 years old, Jacques since I was 18. They know what kind of person I am and they built things around me.
“My role hasn’t changed since that first game that I played. It’s simple; I just have to play well and talk to the ref. Honestly, without the team that we have, the players and the management, I don’t think I would have lasted.”
Kolisi only learned of the milestone on Wednesday when the team to face Tonga was named.
“It’s honestly something I never dreamed of, that I never thought would happen. Where I come from, I didn’t have dreams like that,” he said.
“I played rugby because I enjoyed it, I played it because it kept me out of trouble and I played it because most of my friends played it. I definitely didn’t think I would be sitting here now.”
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Twitter: @Springboks