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WATCH: The moment Siya Kolisi arrived back home with the World Cup
Siya ran out the door in full sprint towards the crowd, before lifting the Webb Ellis cup over his head.
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi celebrates winning the 2023 Rugby World Cup final match against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on 28 October 2023. (Photo by Frank Fife/ AFP)
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi could hardly believe his eyes as thousands of SA fans packed OR Tambo airport on Tuesday morning to celebrate his team’s Rugby World Cup victory.
The Springboks edged New Zealand’s All Blacks 12-11 in an incredible and tense Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Saturday evening. It was a record fourth Webb Ellis Cup for South Africa.
South Africans filled the arrival hall and the multiple floors overlooking it, as a giant South African flag overlooked the scene.
As music filled the air, including a remix of The Cranberries’ Zombie in honour of South African director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, the team stepped out of the arrival doors.
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Siya ran out the door in full sprint towards the crowd, before lifting the Webb Ellis cup over his head. He lifted a few more times, before waving to those gathered.
Siya later shared a video of him wiping his face in disbelief at the crowd, and then posing for selfies with fans.
Missed the team at the airport?
The Springboks held a Press Conference after their arrival, and will soon tour the country to thank fans and show off the Webb Ellis World Cup trophy.
The tour will start in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto on Thursday, 2 November, ending in a trophy parade at the FNB Stadium.
ALSO READ: LIVE: World champion Springboks are back on SA soil
On Friday the team will be in Cape Town, Durban on Saturday and Eastern London on Sunday.
“The locations have been selected for population size in the first three instances and because of the Eastern Cape’s rugby significance in the fourth.
“Satellite tours to Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay and other centres will be scheduled for 2024. Such tours following the 2019 victory had to be abandoned because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” SA Rugby said.
