Springboks Eben Etzebeth. top, and Duane Vermeulen. Pictures: X screengrabs
In the midst of feverish coalition talks taking place left, right and centre between political parties, let’s take a step back and see how Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus and his boykies achieved unity in their ranks.
The South African government defines a “coalition government” as follows:
A coalition government exists when two or more political parties (or independent representatives) combine their votes in a legislature or a council to elect a government and support the decisions it takes. This becomes necessary when no single party has a majority of the seats in the legislature or council.
Now that the political jargon is out of the way, let’s take a look at our beloved Springboks’ “coalition strategy”…
The third episode of the SuperSport documentary Chasing The Sun 2 tackles the ego battle between loose forwards Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi and lock Eben Etzebeth that became counter-productive for the Springboks.
Following their 13-8 World Cup loss to Ireland at the Stade de France in Paris on 24 September, then SA Rugby director Rassie stepped in to sort out the personality clash of his Titans.
The trio knew each other from their Stormers/Western Province days, and through different stages, developed in their different ways to become senior leaders of the World Cup-winning team.
“I just couldn’t have these three big dogs not patrolling together,” Rassie explained.
True to South Africans’ humoristic take on issues we face as a nation, X user Mike Sharman put together a clip from the Springboks doccie to serve as a guide to coalition politics.
The clip comes complete with nuances of the African National Congress’ (ANC) and Democratic Alliance’s (DA) contested relationship. Take a look…
ALSO READ: DA-ANC coalition: A path to stability or political risk?
Social media users’ reactions to the Springboks’ coalition clip ranged from getting goosebumps to calling for Rassie to be South Africa’s next president.
@patchy_stu: “Goosies?”.
@Lwae88: “We might not have everything and fight amongst each other as a country, but humor is in abundance”.
@Justice_Seyisi: “Spot on!”
@AndypatLotto: “I had the idea on Monday that Rassie should be giving some input to the politicians”.
@SNOK1986: “So basically what we can take from this, is that Rassie needs to be president”.
And let’s not forget Siya’s memorable Trophy Tour speech, in which he challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa to embrace the spirit of diversity that was on display during the Boks’ successful 2023 World Cup campaign.
“We are very diverse [as a team],” the Springbok captain said in his public address at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
He added: “Diversity is our strength in South Africa. I want to encourage [you] Mister President and the Cabinet, we need to use our diversity a bit more.
“It is a powerful force that a lot of countries don’t have, that we can use.
“Coming from different backgrounds and different areas, we see life differently. The more we share towards South Africa, the more we put South Africa first and work for South Africa.
“Everything I do is focused on that and that is what we did as a group of players.
“You can use that in the country.”
NOW READ: ‘Perilous time’: Helen Zille, Tony Leon to lead DA coalition team, says Steenhuisen
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