VIDEO: Siya Kolisi explains Boks' 'buy-in' process
WATCH as Springbok captain Siya Kolisi explains the “buy-in” process when the Springbok coaches deliver their plans to the team.
The Springboks became the first side to win four World Cup titles after they edged the All Blacks 12-11 in France in last year’s Final.
Under Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, the Springboks also became the second team after New Zealand to win back-to-back World Cup titles.
With tactics like a seven-one bench split, the Boks always seemed like leaders when it came to innovation.
In an interview with the Behind the Ruck Podcast, Kolisi explained the “buy-in” process from a player’s perspective.
“Everything starts from the top with coach Rassie and Jacques and the whole coaching staff,” said Kolisi.
“They make the plans and they bring them to the group and say: ‘This is what we think and what do you guys think?’.
“Everybody has a say, whether you have one cap or you have zero caps, but you are in the mix.
“Everybody has a say and we all agree.
“The coaches have the last say on everything, but we all have our input.
“At the end of the day, the coaches say this is what we are going with and everybody buys in.”
Kolisi also reiterated the Boks’ mantra that someone’s individual goals will always come second to the group’s goals.
“You leave your ego at the door when you come into the Springboks.
“The Springboks are more important than you because we are representing South Africa and that’s the most important thing and we want to make people proud.
“That was the biggest thing for us as a group that kept us going. We knew our own personal dreams and goals would only be achieved if the team achieved what they wanted.
“So, we put the country first and we put the Springboks first and that was easy to buy into.
“If you didn’t buy into that, you only worked yourself out [of the squad] because we have got a mission and a goal.
“We have got over 65 million people looking at us. We all come from different backgrounds, different skin colours and even different religions.
“We all had to make that work and coach Rassie always told us this: ‘You got to learn to mind each other. We got to create an environment where each person can be themselves so that they can be the best for the team’.”
