Author responds after Kolisi distances himself from new book

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has distanced himself from a new book written about his life and rugby career.

The book, Siya Kolisi: Against All Odds, was written by author Jeremy Daniel and launched this week to coincide with the Boks’ announcement of their 31-man squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

The book provides a biographical account of Kolisi’s life to date, from growing up in the Eastern Cape township of Zwide to turning professional, starting a family and being named the Springboks’ first black captain.

While Daniel didn’t speak to Kolisi himself, he interviewed an array of people who were involved in Kolisi’s life.

Kolisi, though, took to Twitter on Wednesday through SA Rugby’s account to “set the record straight”.

“To clear any confusion, the book published about me with my name on the cover, wasn’t written by me or produced with my approval or even knowledge,” Kolisi stated in the tweet.

“We tried. My publisher spoke to his agent for almost two years and they decided that it wasn’t the right time for him and that he needed to focus on his rugby so he wasn’t involved officially,” Daniel said on Thursday.

“I presume he knew about it. We just wanted to tell a really positive story in the build-up to the World Cup and celebrate his journey.

“I did my absolute level best to be as accurate as possible and speak to as many people around him to get the story straight.”

Daniel added that nobody he spoke to had a negative word to say about Kolisi, and he was hopeful that the Bok skipper would appreciate the book once he had read it.

“I suspect that once he reads it, if he reads it, that he will see that it’s just a celebration of everything that he has done,” said Daniel.

“Hopefully he will be on board with it … I would love that.”

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