Mokwena hopes Bok magic rubs off on Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has joined millions of South Africans in congratulating the Springboks for defending their Rugby World Cup title on Saturday.

Boks captain Siya Kolisi and his troops edged New Zealand 12-11 to make history by becoming the only nation with four world cup wins.

Mokwena and his players are also representing the country in the African Football League and they will reach the final if they avoid defeat against Al-Ahly in the second leg of the semifinal in Cairo on Wednesday.

“Congratulations to the Springboks, they have made the entire country proud. Hopefully, it (victory) rubs off (on us). We deserve this happiness, we’re a country that goes through a lot,” Mokwena said after the 1-0 win over Ahly on Sunday.

“Congratulations to coach Jacques Nienaber, Rassie Erasmus and the entire technical team. We must also thank Siya Kolisi and his incredible group because they have shown us that we do have talent in South Africa and we’re just as good as the rest of the world.

“We can beat the best in the world because that’s what they did, they beat the All Blacks who are considered the best in the world. Congratulations once again, we want to thank them for giving us happiness and for inspiring us as South Africans to dream and achieve more in our own area of operation.”

Mokwena who comes from a football family, admitted he knows very little about rugby. The son of Orlando Pirates great Julias ‘KK’ Sono and nephew to the legendary Jomo Sono, revealed how he watched the nail-biting encounter against the All Blacks.

A rugby novice

“I won’t pretend to be a rugby fanatic. When I was watching the final, I had my laptop on, my phone and my iPad,” Mokwena said.

“On the laptop was an Al-Ahly match, on the TV screen at the hotel, it was the rugby match and on the other device I had, I downloaded a book called coaching rugby for dummies because I felt like a dummie.

“I was on ChatGPT and I kept asking questions like why is there a penalty after a try? how many points do you get after a try? When is it a try? Because I was also listening to the referees speaking to the players but I could tell that the stove was hot and there was a lot of pressure.”