When the baseball-capped Nelson Mandela danced his famous jig in the No.6 Springbok jersey, Siya Kolisi would not have paid a blind bit of notice.

When he gathered the Springboks before the Rugby Championship this year, Rassie Erasmus was so confident that he told them it was a 20-week journey.

There is no escaping what the symbolism of Siya Kolisi lifting the Webb Ellis Cup could mean for South Africa, given his well-documented story of poverty to success.