Springbok legends unleashed: inspiring youth through rugby's greatest tales

A short series of books has been published aimed at the youth and are well worth a read. The six books feature current Springbok greats in Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Faf de Klerk, Cheslin Kolbe, Handre Pollard and Eben Etzebeth.

The stories are told in simple language to make them easy to read for youngsters and are packed with inspirational anecdotes that youngsters can embrace and adopt in their own lives, even if they are not rugby players.

In a short paperback of 90 pages, you can read about how a young Kolisi had to endure rats crawling over him at night as he slept on cushions in a shack in the Zwide township, near Gqeberha. Many nights, he went to bed with an empty stomach.

Kolisi earned a rugby bursary to Grey High in Gqeberha and was terrified because he could not speak English, but he overcame the challenge.

The books talk a lot about why Bok coach Rassie Erasmus means so much to the players. It is because while he is a good coach, he is an even better human being.

Erasmus told the Boks, “Work hard in silence and let success be your noise.” And “How dare you even think of not giving your best when fans pay a lot of money to watch you play?”

Kolisi says, “Rassie chooses the right players, not necessarily the best players.”

These books capture the excitement of winning World Cups and the weirdness of the series against the British and Irish Lions during the Covid pandemic. The players sang the national anthem in front of TV cameras and zero spectators, with their voices echoing around the empty stands.

Etzebeth, the most capped Springbok of all time, grew up with posters of Bob Skinstad and Jonah Lomu plastered on his bedroom walls. He played wing at primary school.

A driven kid, he had a list of goals pinned to his bedroom door. One of them was to play for the Springboks. He trained the hardest among his friends and was never tempted into errant behaviour like smoking or drinking.

In Etzebeth’s final year at primary school, he was victor ludorum at the sports day, excelling in sprints and high jump.

Almost unbelievably, he was small when he went to high school and couldn’t make the A team. He decided to go to the gym and ate eggs and tuna to get protein. By the time he got to matric, he was a 120 kg monster and had long before moved to lock from the backline.

Academically, he also excelled, matriculating with a B aggregate.

Olympic gold medalist Wade van Niekerk and Kolbe are cousins and often raced each other as boys. They played in the same rugby team, with Cheslin at scrumhalf and his cousin at flyhalf.

Wade stopped playing rugby to concentrate on athletics. The two would grow up to represent South Africa at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Cheslin was with the Blitzboks, who earned a bronze medal, while Wade landed the gold.

Du Toit talks about how he was inspired to be a Springbok because his grandfather, "Piet “Spiere” du Toit played for the Boks in the 1960s as an immensely powerful prop. Pieter-Steph found his grandfather’s old boots and walked around the family farm in the Western Cape in them until they fell apart.

“My father said that instead of putting them on the mantelpiece, we should put the boots to use," Du Toit says. "I can say I walked in my grandfather’s footsteps. I grew up with a sense of destiny. I believed I would one day play for the Springboks.”

Pollard’s first introduction to rugby came when he was still in the crib, while his family was watching the 1995 World Cup final.

“My mom told me that when South Africa won, I started crying because everyone was making such a big noise.”

At school, Handre excelled in all sports but also sang in the choir and acted in plays.

The Faf de Klerk story is one of the most inspiring for kids. He never made representative sides at school level, but never gave up on his dream of becoming a Springbok. Through sheer determination, he not only made the Boks but is a double-World Cup winner.

The books are available at leading book stores, and while they are aimed at the youth, adults will tear through them with interest.

-Mike Greenaway is Independent Media's veteran rugby reporter and author of The Fireside Springbok: The Untold Stories that make the Boks Great, and Bok-to-Bok.'