WATCH | 2015 video details how Siya Kolisi went from party animal to Springbok legend

As Siya Kolisi runs out to face France this Saturday to earn his 100th Springbok Test cap, the occasion will rightly be framed as a national celebration, a monument to his leadership, his World Cup victories, and his symbolic significance as South Africa’s first Black Test captain.

Yet the true measure of Kolisi’s journey is found not in the triumphs of 2019 or 2023, but in a crisis period around 2015, a pivotal moment when he nearly lost his prodigious talent to personal demons.

This turning point, a battle fought off the pitch, is what truly forged the leader South Africa came to know.

After Kolisi burst onto the international scene with one of the great Springbok debuts against Scotland in 2013, he went through a dip in the years leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

Back then, Kolisi was a promising flanker, brimming with raw athleticism. But it seemed the off-field distractions of his newfound fame got to him. The party became more of a priority than rugby.

He has openly recounted in his book Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story that this period in his career was marked by a dangerous relationship with alcohol. His drinking, driven by personal stresses and a struggle to cope with the sudden wealth and fame rugby provided, threatened to derail a South African wonder story — a player who made it to the big time after growing up in unbelievable hardship.

This was a young man from the township of Zwide who had been given the world but lacked the emotional and mental tools to handle it. His professional career became a series of peaks and troughs dictated by his off-field habits.

However, the true turning point was a conscious, daily commitment to personal change rooted in accountability, triggered by a profound life event.

The birth of his son, Nicholas, provided the stark clarity he needed. Looking at his child, Kolisi realised the old path of excess was incompatible with the responsibility of being a father and a stable partner to then-girlfriend Rachel.

He understood that he was risking his entire future, not just his rugby career, for fleeting escapes. This moment of realisation forced painful introspection and a firm resolution to end his reliance on alcohol.

During an interview in 2015, after a long injury layoff that provided time and space for reflection, Kolisi revealed how welcoming Nicholas into the world helped him to turn his career, as well as his life, around.

“My son brings joy to my heart. He is such a blessing,” Kolisi told reporters during a Stormers press conference in 2015. “I’ve got my brother and my sister living with me as well. I’m a full-time parent.

“I can’t do that anymore (partying). It’s not my only life anymore. I have to give my girlfriend a rest. She gives me enough time to rest after training and matches, but when I’m off I need to take responsibility and be there.

“It’s nice for me, because I save money and I’m at home,” he jokingly added. “I cook a lot now. I cook twice a week!”

The decision to turn his life around was not just about saving his career; it was about saving his future and becoming a man worthy of the responsibility he now holds.

This commitment transformed him from a talented but inconsistent player into a relentless, durable and highly reliable performer for his country. The personal discipline he adopted became the bedrock of his professional persona — a leader who understood the fragility of success and the value of hard-earned consistency.

When Rassie Erasmus appointed Kolisi as the captain of the Springboks in 2018, it was a moment of profound national significance. His appointment transcended sport, offering a powerful symbol of South Africa’s transformative democracy.

But it was the man, remade by his 2015 reckoning, who made the symbol real. The leadership Kolisi embodied was not polished or distant; it was deeply human, vulnerable and ultimately relatable.

He led by running harder, tackling fiercely and confronting adversity with an open heart. His personal battle gave him the empathy and perspective required to unify a Bok squad drawn from vastly different backgrounds, forging a mindset of collective sacrifice and iron will.

This unity propelled them to the 2019 World Cup title, and then to the remarkable triumph in 2023.

Now, as he reaches his 100th Test at the venue where he lifted the cup two years ago, Kolisi’s century is more than a number. It is a testament to the fact that his greatest victory was not won on a pitch in Yokohama or Paris, but in the quiet, difficult decision he made a decade ago — the decision to choose responsibility and future over comfort and habit.

That single moment of internal choice, spurred by the birth of his son, launched the man who would become one of rugby’s most iconic figures, defining a generation of South African rugby and delivering hope to millions.