On November 2, a black Springbok captain in Siyamthanda Kolisi lifted the William Webb-Ellis Cup on a night of delirious mayhem in Tokyo.
It was a morning of joy in South Africa, 12 years on from a cold but unforgettable night in Paris, where the Boks celebrated another Rugby World Cup.
In the space of 25 years and seven editions, South Africa has stolen a march on European nations and Australia, who had a two-tournament head start while New Zealand was unexpectedly reeled in.
That’s something to celebrate, even though South Africa’s racial and socio-economic schism has widened in those two and a half decades of intermittent but well-remembered Rugby World Cup peaks.
There’s so much talent this country can produce if hearts and minds are open to the fact that transformation in its purest form seeks to be inclusive.
At the focal point of SA’s Japan success was how the marginalised black majority in the game came to the fore.
Makazole Mapimpi had no school rugby pedigree. Cheslin Kolbe was deemed to be too small and had to be toasted in France for SA rugby to realise the value of the pocket rocket.
Lukhanyo Am, the provider of the pass that led to SA’s first Rugby World Cup try in three finals, came from a school rugby backwater, learned his craft assiduously and looked the part in a Springbok jersey. Kolisi’s rugby fairytale from Emsengeni Primary to being the first South African athlete is well-known.
These are just some of the heartwarming stories of a flawed transformation structure that’s somehow been able to produce black Springboks. Then there are the reports of SA Rugby having to read the riot act to certain rugby unions with regards to the colour component of their teams.
One of them, the Pumas, only fielded two players of colour in their Super Rugby Unlocked clash against the Stormers two weeks ago, while the Bulls and the Cheetahs were fingered for their lack of pigmentation in their Under-21 teams.
This isn’t a conversation that should be taking place in 2020, especially when the cream of the black rugby crop has repeatedly shown that transformation and excellence can actually sing from the same hymnbook.
The Pumas aren’t a mainline franchise like the Bulls, Stormers, Cheetahs, Sharks and Lions, but they have a responsibility to abide by SA Rugby’s transformation policies.
With the collapse of unions such as Border and the Valke while the Southern Kings also folded, they’ll become another path for talented black players to show their wares before they get snapped up by the bigger unions.
It also unfortunate that transformation remains a political football that’s used wantonly by chancers who want to advance their career causes.
Transformation isn’t easy.
Convincing a conservative white rugby supporter who’s invested emotionally and financially into the game that a black player could and would be better than their favourite of the same hue isn’t easy to digest.
When you’re weaned on white success that doesn’t compete with what the black rugby world has to offer until the said class draws a line in the sand, that is difficult to come to terms with.
There’s so much talent this country can produce if hearts and minds are open to the fact that transformation in its purest form seeks to be inclusive.
For it to happen, existing supply chains have to be reworked and new ones reestablished so players can develop in environments that are comfortable for them before the professional game separates the grain from the chaff.
There’s more where Mapimpi and Am came from. If the South African rugby, its vested financial interests and the various government departments can put their heads together, New Zealand’s fear of SA Rugby finally awaking from its slumber could be realised.
It’s a big if, but if a black man like Kolisi once dreamed of being a Springbok to a point where he realised a dream of many, then it’s possible.
After all, we are allowed to dream.
