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Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi kicks New Year off with personality of the year award
World Cup-winning Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has been recognised for his monumental efforts last year by being made the 2019 Rugby Unions Writers’ Club personality of the year in London on Monday.
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Kolisi took the prize after the RUWC’s 200-plus members voted him into the award following a poll in the British capital.
The 28-year-old loose forward led South Africa to their third World Cup title in November after they crushed England 32-12 in the final in Yokohama.
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The accolade was that much sweeter for Kolisi, who succeeds Irish first-five Jonathan Sexton as the holder of the Pat Marshall Memorial Award, completed a significant milestone in lifting aloft the Webb Ellis Cup, as did so as South Africa’s first black captain.
Under his stewardship, the Springboks also won the Rugby Championship last year and defeated England in a three-match test series in South Africa in 2018.
Kolisi follows in the footsteps of the likes of Gareth Edwards, Jonah Lomu, Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter to have claimed the RUWC’s esteemed award.
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He beat out fellow Springboks teammate Faf de Klerk and coach Rassie Erasmus, as well as Welsh captain Alun Wyn Jones and inspirational Japan skipper Michael Leitch, for the title.
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Kolisi will be back in action for the first time this year to captain the Stormers in their second Super Rugby pre-season on Sunday, when they face off against the Sharks in Soweto as part of the Super Sunday double-header at Soccer City.
The Stormers will then get their regular season campaign up and running a fortnight later, when they host the Hurricanes at Newlands in Cape Town on February 1.
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