Siya Kolisi came dancing in, two hands on the Webb Ellis Cup, one foot off the floor, the Springboks captain larking about in a gambol of glory. To a packed Stade de France auditorium Kolisi delivered a last sermon from the mountaintop, a fitting figure to be afforded the final words of this Rugby World Cup, the South Africa captain and his country smiling again.
And so the lasting images of a compelling tournament will be familiar ones of a rainbow nation united in triumph. The backing and belief their country gives them most certainly seems to lift the Springboks, but their place atop the mountain is testament to hard work and attention to detail, too. South Africa’s coaching team of Jacques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus truly turned over every stone. This second successive crown is credit to their years of experimentation, their pursuit of marginal gains, their willingness to zig as others zag.
