Siya Kolisi is a much-loved rugby player, his strong ball carrying and tireless hard work making him a favourite both with the Stormers and the Boks.

Then there’s THAT step from the Super Rugby match against the Lions last month, where he left potential Bok pivot Elton Jantjies grasping at thin air.

We won’t mention the final score, but we will revisit the flanker busting out the twinkle toes:

But we’re not here to talk about Siya’s ability on the field, because that’s just one of the reasons why he is such a popular figure. Dan Nicholl, host of the eponymous TV show on SuperSport, has outlined on VodacomRugby why Siya deserves our respect:

…what you probably don’t know is the story of Kolisi’s family. He has 2 younger half siblings, now 14 and 9, who’d moved away with their father; he subsequently passed away, and the kids ended up in social services, and out of contact with their big brother. Kolisi had no idea where they were – until a cousin of his found out where they were, and passed the information on to an up-and-coming young rugby player who’d just been included in the Springbok squad.

Kolisi duly set off for the Eastern Cape, tracked down his little brother and sister, and re-introduced himself. His honest recollection of that moment brings tears to the eyes (in Kolisi as well): his little sister was scared of him at first, but then reached out and touched his face, and from there the strongest of bonds took root very firmly.

The reunion itself is a beautiful story, but it’s what happened next that reveals Kolisi as a real giant of a man. He kick-started the long, administratively fraught process of becoming legal guardian to two kids who’d probably given up hope of being part of a family again. With the intent we’re used to seeing on the rugby field, Kolisi stuck to the task, and his siblings are now in Cape Town, living with their big brother, his partner Rachel, and their son Nicholas, the Kolisi tribe now happily united.

“I can’t go out all night with Scarra [Ntubeni, the Stormers hooker] any more,” Kolisi reflects with a rueful smile, as he discusses the life he finds himself living now – but there’s no sense of regret. Instead, there’s a quiet pride that, coupled with the obvious joy of having his brother and sister with him, speaks volumes of an enormously mature and level-headed man. A man who, lest we forget, is just 24-years-old.

All too often we only see one side of our sportsmen and women, and it is stories like this that remind us their most impressive performances don’t always take place in front of an adoring Newlands crowd.

[source:vodacomrugby]

[imagesource:here]