{"id":292361,"date":"2023-10-20T04:39:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T04:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=292361"},"modified":"2023-10-20T04:39:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T04:39:23","slug":"south-africa-disregard-rugby-world-cup-record-as-england-sent-ominous-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-league\/south-africa-disregard-rugby-world-cup-record-as-england-sent-ominous-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa disregard Rugby World Cup record as England sent ominous warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chessum previews England's World Cup semi-final with South Africa<\/h3>\n

Siya Kolisi gave a revealing insight into the elemental forces that are driving South Africa in their quest to become only the second team to land back-to-back Webb Ellis Cups.\u200c They face England in the Rugby World Cup semifinal on Saturday in a rematch of the 2019 final.<\/p>\n

It is not the prize of the trophy itself, which South Africa\u2019s inspirational captain raised to the Yokohama skies four years ago after their crushing win over England, although that would be appreciated of course. It turns out it is something less tangible but to Kolisi far more precious – the feeling of lifting a nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a purpose-driven team, not a trophy-driven team,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s always more purposeful when you\u2019re not doing things for yourself, when you are playing for others that you don\u2019t even know.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think of how many people would give anything to be where we are; how many people in our country are unemployed. We use that pain and those struggles and put them on our shoulders and carry them with us to drive us through the battles. It helps us to keep going when it’s tough.<\/p>\n

READ MORE <\/strong> South Africa chief has suspicion over Rugby World Cup ref for England clash[NEWS] <\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you start playing for others and doing things for others, it’s not easy to give up. I\u2019m not saying we\u2019re going to win every game, but giving up and not giving everything would be cheating not just myself but everyone at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolisi, who lived the struggle himself during a childhood of abject poverty in Zwide township in the Eastern Cape, has been moved by the response to South Africa\u2019s march to the semifinal from thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish you could see all the support back home,\u201d he said. \u201cKids in schools are sending us clips of them singing – because they know some of us like singing. People at work on Fridays wear green jerseys and the beautiful thing to see is that people who can’t afford them wear anything green, anything to represent the Springboks. We see that and it continues to motivate us.\u201d<\/p>\n