南ア主将コリシが故郷凱旋、少年時代の恩師は感慨

【ポートエリザベスＡＦＰ＝時事】ラグビーW杯日本大会を制したスプリングボクス（南アフリカ代表の愛称）の優勝パレードが、10日で4日目を迎え、故郷に凱旋（がいせん）した主将のシヤ・コリシは、オープントップバスの上からトロフィーを掲げた。（写真は南アフリカ主将のシヤ・コリシ。ラグビーW杯日本大会を制した南アフリカの優勝パレードで）
　この日のパレードは、ポートエリザベスの黒人居住区（タウンシップ）を通った。コリシは、ポートエリザベス郊外のズウィデにある砂利のスポーツ場で初めてラグビーボールを握った。
　曇り空の下、パレードに駆け付けた人の中には、後に南アフリカ代表になるコリシの小学校時代の先生で、同選手に初めてラグビーを教えたエリック・ソングウィキさんの姿もあった。
　ソングウィキさんはＡＦＰに対し、小学生時代のコリシについて「お昼休みになると、子どもたちはさっさと食事を済ませて、私のところにラグビーボールを借りにきていた」「シヤは小柄で脚は細かったが、力強かったのを覚えている。ボールを持った時にあふれ出る情熱はものすごかった」と話した。
　「この子は一生懸命だし、礼儀正しくしっかりとしていて、ラグビーに対する情熱も素晴らしいから絶対に成功すると思っていた」「彼がスプリングボクスのキャプテンを務めていることに驚きはない。まだ１２歳だったが、彼のリーダーとしての素質は分かっていた」
　「自分の教え子が頑張っていて本当にうれしい。彼がウェブ・エリス・カップ（Ｗ杯の優勝トロフィー）を掲げた時は、自分もその一部を担ったんだと感じた」
　７日から始まった南アフリカ代表の優勝パレードは、１１日にケープタウンで最終日を迎える。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/11/12-08:41）

Rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi returned to his South African roots Sunday, holding the trophy as an open-top bus crawled through the streets of a Port Elizabeth township.
It was in Zwide, 17 kilometres (11 miles) north of the coastal city, that the Springbok colossus first handled a rugby ball on a gravel, often wind-swept school sport field.
Port Elizabeth was the fourth leg of a national victory parade tour that began in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto Thursday and continued in Durban and East London.
The celebrations of the 32-12 final victory over England in Japan last weekend will conclude Monday when the team drive through the streets of Cape Town, a rugby hotbed.
Among those who greeted Kolisi and his victorious teammates Sunday on a wet, windy day under a slate grey sky was Eric Songwiqi, a schoolteacher and first coach of the would-be Springbok.
Siya handled a rugby ball for the first time on a gravel sports field at Emsengeni primary school in Zwide township, he told AFP.
The boys would hurriedly eat their food during the school break, then ask me for the rugby ball so that they could play.
I recall Siya being a small boy with thin legs, but strong. He oozed passion whenever he had the ball.
I saw this diligent, well mannered and disciplined boy with great passion and enthusiasm for rugby and I knew he would go far.
I am not surprised that he captains the Springboks. I could see leadership qualities in him even at the tender age of 12. He was focused.
Songwiqi said Kolisi, born to teenage parents in June 1991, loved rugby more than his school books.
You could see the zeal and hunger even though it was on a rough, hard, gravel pitch, said the coach.
- 'I played a part' -
I feel great that my product is doing well and the moment he lifted the William Webb Ellis trophy, I felt that I had played a part in the win.
Kolisi was spotted at a tournament when only 12 and won a scholarship to an elite Port Elizabeth school, where his rugby skills were honed.
After representing South Africa at under-20 level, he joined Cape Town-based Super Rugby team the Stormers and made his Springbok debut six years ago against Scotland in Nelspruit.
Last year, coach Rassie Erasmus took over a Springbok squad that had become an embarrassment, especially following a first loss to European rugby minnows Italy.
Among his first decisions was to make loose forward Kolisi the first black Test captain of the Springboks after 60 whites had skippered a team that excluded black players for 90 years.
The gamble appeared to have backfired when visiting England raced to a 21-point lead in Johannesburg in the first match of a three-Test series.
But Kolisi and his teammates did not panic, clawed back into contention with a string of tries and won a thriller 42-39.
South Africa won seven internationals and lost seven in 2018, but the groundwork had been laid for a dramatic improvement this year.
An ultimately convincing victory over pre-match favourites England in the World Cup final was the 10th in 12 matches this season.
Travelling to Port Elizabeth also marked a homecoming for Erasmus, who turned 47 this week. He was born in Despatch, a motor manufacturing town 30 kilometres northwest of Port Elizabeth.
Meanwhile, loose forward Francois Louw has become the second member of the Springbok squad to officially announce his retirement, after legendary prop Tendai 'The Beast' Mtawarira.
Known as 'Flo', the 34-year-old based in England was capped 76 times and came off the bench in the final.