Craig Ray: 'The Springboks showed us that nothing is impossible'

Rugby's world champions are the embodiment of what a beautiful, basket case of a country could be if it were served by politicians with the same innovative and courageous leadership as the Springboks

THE KISS OF LIFE: Captain Siya Kolisi kisses the Webb Ellis Cup as he celebrates winning the France 2023 Rugby World Cup final match against New Zealand at the Stade de France.

There isn’t a country where winning the Rugby World Cup means more than South Africa. That’s simply because the Springboks are a beloved beacon of hope in a nation collapsing under the weight of three decades of governmental corruption and four decades of apartheid before that.

South Africa is a broken country in many ways, yet it somehow endures, and in some spheres, thrives. But it’s almost always in spite of its leaders and not because of them.