It’s tempting to think that because we took the 2024 Rugby Championship, and defeated the 2021 British Lions, and won two successive World Cups in 2019 and 2023, we have the best rugby players in the world. Well, that’s true, up to a point — in some positions we arguably do, such as Eben Etzebeth at lock, Malcolm Marx at hooker, prop Ox Nché and our two brilliant wingers, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

But that’s not why the Boks are doing so well. It is about leadership of the kind that goes beyond inspirational team talks. Coach Rassie Erasmus has said: “We can beat countries more powerful and richer than ours if we stand together and use all our resources.” And captain Siya Kolisi believes “people expect the kind of performance that you put on because they know of the things we’ve been through and what the country has been through”...

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