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- Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi says continuing education and conversation about Black Lives Matter is important.
- Kolisi says the players on this weekend’s Super Fan Saturday will show respect in their own way.
- Kolisi and the Stormers will face the Lions, while the Bulls will host the Sharks.
Springbok captain He is a school says all Stormers players will “show respect in any way they want” before kickoff against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
In what will be the first live televised South African rugby event in six months, Saturday super fan will see the Bulls host the Sharks (16:25) and then the Stormers face the Lions (18:55) in front of an empty stadium in Pretoria.
But, even though there will be no fans present, all eyes before kick-off will be on the stance the players choose to take in relation to the match. Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement that has become a major topic of conversation around the world since the American George Floyd was assassinated on May 25.
Since then, kneeling has become the universal symbol, particularly in sports, of showing support for BLM.
The English Premiership has seen almost all the players kneel before the matches start, while on July 18 all the players and members of management involved in the South Africa Cricket Solidarity Cup (CSA) knelt before the the first ball of the day will be thrown.
CSA has been forced into a period of introspection as a result of BLM, with numerous former South African cricket players and coaches presenting their stories of alleged racism and exclusion.
However, last month a group of South African rugby players, including Springbok World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager, made headlines by choosing not to kneel when playing for their European clubs.
South Africans playing abroad who ‘stood up’ that weekend wore T-shirts with the words ‘Rugby Against Racism’ printed on them, but not kneeling was enough to provoke action by the South African sports minister. , Nathi Mthethwa, who wanted answers from SA Rugby.
Meanwhile, SA Rugby has proposed that the players continue their pre-match routines as they normally would at Loftus on Saturday, suggesting that they present a ‘creed’, in the stadium and via the SuperSport broadcast, emphasizing the united stance of the organization against racism. and discrimination.
For Kolisi, the continued conversations about BLM and ensuring an environment of equality within the team environment are more important than any gesture that takes place on Saturday.
The patron also revealed that Stormers head coach John Dobson had hosted BLM’s conversation with the team, even bringing in someone from outside to facilitate the conversation on the subject.
“Here in South Africa we have our own things that we are going through … a lot of social problems. We have tried to reduce it to what is happening here in South Africa,” said the captain of South Africa, winner of the 2019 World Cup. .
“We pride ourselves on our diversity on the Stormers team. One thing we all know is different races, different backgrounds. Many of us decide that not all of us have enough education about what is happening.
“Dobbo (Dobson) offered to get someone to come and talk to us … so that we can talk and have conversations about what is happening around us and in South Africa.
“That’s what we did as a team … we agreed that we want to have more conversations about this, just internally.
“We know that one session is not enough and we decided as a team that we want this to be continuous until we get the perfect solution and how we can all be united.”
Focusing his attention on this weekend, Kolisi made it clear that no player would be judged for the decisions they made before kick-off.
“Going to the game on Saturday, there are so many things that people can do to show their support and we said, as long as we have the education and we are learning and growing every week, what someone else does … that’s up to you.” , He said.
“We are not going to judge each other … it is about having that conversation and with each person, we have to respect what they are doing and the decision they are making and they will answer for it.
“If you ask me what I’m doing, I’ll answer for it and then the next one will answer for himself. That’s what we agreed on.
“We just want equality in our country and equality in the team environment for everyone. We want everyone to be treated in the same way and we will show it on the field.
“I’m going to show it any way I want … it’s either kneeling or someone stands up and that’s it, we’ll unite.
“The most important thing is the conversations. You can stand or kneel, but you cannot be supporting anything. The important thing is how we feel among the team.”
“The players. We have not decided exactly how we are going to do it, but we know that things are happening with Vodacom … they are going to do things on match day. We will have a couple of seconds where we can do something on the pitch and each person is going to show respect in any way they want. “
