Jesse Kriel and Siya Masuku are two inspirational rugby stories. They are also testament that patience, aligned with the right attitude, brings great reward.
Masuku, the Sharks goal-kicking king in the 32-31 Challenge Cup semifinal win against France’s Clermont in a match played at Twickenham Stoop in southwest London, has been the official Player of the Match in four of the Sharks' past five matches. The Sharks won all those matches.
Kriel, on his return from injury for his Japanese club side Canan Eagles, scored a sensational solo 80-metre try.
Masuku is 27 years old and Kriel is 30, but their respective stories give hope to any aspiring professional rugby player and is also a lesson to talented players who spit the dummy and seek solace in a big financial club contract if they aren’t picked for the Springboks in their first few seasons as professional players. Equally those Springboks relegated as first choice options.
These are two players who have earned every reward through determination that has refused to be defeated by adversity or a lack of opportunity.
Both players, on their respective rugby — and life — journeys, have only ever focused on the controllable: the things they can do, which is train hard, play hard, have a great attitude, be a wonderful team player and an inspiration and not a drain of negativity.
Masuku’s been running hot for the Sharks since being given the starting No 10 jersey. Sharks coach John Plumtree has spoken of Masuku’s talent and the player’s humility and declared the best is yet to come from the magician who has been central to the Sharks change of fortunes.
Masuku, who as a 20-year-old was playing for North West University, was signed by the Lions and played for their U-20 and U-21s. There were no senior playing opportunities and his senior professional debut was for the Southern Kings. The playing opportunities were limited and the player took himself back to amateur rugby, for Rustenburg Impala, where he won the 2019 National Inter-Club Gold Cup. From there he took himself to Spain for six months.
The Cheetahs saw value in Masuku and signed him in 2021. Success followed, with a Currie Cup title in 2023 and a play-off spot in the 2022/23 EPCR Challenge Cup.
Then the Sharks came knocking in 2024, six years after Masuku could easily have thought professional offers should have flooded his inbox. The player knew professionally the career move had to be made to Durban and again he bided his time, carried tackle bags, put in the hours, showcased his attitude and kept his head down and applied his mind to being the best he could be.
When his moment came he delivered and his on-field impact has been such that when you google Siya, it is Siya Masuku that tops the page and relegates the iconic Springboks captain Siya Kolisi to a second entry.
As long as there are these types of characters in the South African game, players who will never give up the fight, South African rugby will always be in a good place.
Kriel’s rugby story is different in the journey but equally powerful in the patience of the journey.
Kriel did it all and had it all at a young age. He played South Africa U-18s and U-20s and was a Springbok at 21 years old. He played in the first of three World Cups in 2015 as a 21-year-old and at 29 had won two Rugby World Cup gold medals and a bronze.
The semifinal image of All Blacks midfielder Sonny Bill Williams consoling a crushed Kriel is ingrained in rugby folklore. The All Blacks won 20-18 and Williams is said to have told Kriel: “But for one kick it would be you lifting me to my feet.”
Kriel, between the conclusion of the 2015 Springboks World Cup finish for third place and the start of the 2023 World Cup in France, was always a consistent Springboks squad selection but not always as the starting No 13.
Injury ended his 2019 World Cup and the emergence of Lukhanyo Am further limited starting opportunities for Kriel.
To the player’s credit, he never lost hope, never turned his back on an international career and continued to prove the ultimate team player, in supporting Am, by way of one example, and keeping the heat on through his club form and energy and attitude at Bok training.
When Am suffered injury in 2023, Kriel stepped back into the Boks No 13 jersey and flourished. He played in the Boks’ tournament opener against Scotland and those 80 minutes were followed with him not missing a minute of the three play-off matches, while there were also 53 minutes as a substitute against Tonga.
Kriel was immense in the play-offs, particularly against hosts France in the Boks 29-28 quarterfinal win, and his heartache from the 2015 semifinal defeat against the All Blacks turned to euphoria against the same nation eight years later in a one-point World Cup-winning final.
It took eight years for Kriel to erase the pain of that result but it got erased.
Masuku, when he kicked the Sharks to a historic first South African Challenge Cup final, would have also thought of 2019 and playing in Spain. The emotions would have been vastly different.
Players such as Masuku and Kriel are the foundations to what will always make South African rugby and the Springboks strong. As long as there are these types of characters in the South African game, players who will never give up the fight, South African rugby will always be in a good place.
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