'Springboks the last line of defence' – Siya Kolisi's inspirational ...

South Africa’s incredible captain Siya Kolisi once again showed his class after his country became world champions for a fourth time.

The flanker has been a wonderful leader for the Springboks since he was named skipper in 2018.

He led them to the World Cup title a year later and then played another crucial role in the Boks going back-to-back in Paris.

Jacques Nienaber’s men retained the Webb Ellis Cup on Saturday following a tense 12-11 victory over New Zealand.

Kolisi has constantly spoken about playing for the people in South Africa and that was evident in his post-match interview.

The Springboks left everything out on the pitch and eventually did enough to edge out the All Blacks and give joy to those back home.

“What happened in the last World Cup, we were trying to get the name of the Springboks back. People were just hoping we would do it, but now people were expecting for us to do it,” he told ITV.

“The way that they have been behind us from the beginning. There’s so much that’s going wrong with our country, we are basically the last line of defence.

“There are so many people who come from where I come from who are in hopeless (situations). There’s so much division in the country, but we show, as people with different backgrounds, that it is possible to work together in South Africa, not just on the rugby field but in life in general.

“Look what this sport did in 1995, we can’t go away from that. Without that, I wouldn’t be here. There were people before me who fought for the opportunity for people who look like me to be able to play in this team. They never got to experience that.

“I’ve got a job to make sure I give everything I can to the jersey to inspire the next generation.”

Their latest World Cup triumph proved to be a titanic tussle against the All Blacks, who were magnificent after Sam Cane was red carded.

New Zealand almost snatched the win late on, but the Springboks just about held on thanks to an outstanding defensive effort.

“We knew that New Zealand were going to come (at us) because that’s who they are. That’s why they’ve been so successful. They were never going to lie down and they didn’t,” Kolisi said.

“Obviously, with my moment of naughtiness of getting that yellow card, it put a lot of pressure on us.”

South Africa remarkably won all of their knockout ties by a single point, beating France (29-28), England (16-15) and New Zealand (12-11) to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.

They displayed tremendous resilience and skill to overcome those three teams and claim the title for a record fourth time.

“We played against teams that have done this before. England, who nobody gave a chance when they played us, but they showed who they are. New Zealand today, obviously the host nation, which was so difficult to play, I’m really proud of what the boys have done,” Kolisi added.

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