Robbie Fleck and John Dobson have paid tribute to Springbok captain Siya Kolisi as a player ahead of his 100th Test in the green and gold.
Kolisi will become just the ninth Springbok centurion, joining Percy Montgomery, John Smit, Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Beast Mtawarira, Eben Etzebeth and Willie le Roux on that elite list.
But for those who have coached him through every stage of his remarkable journey – from a raw schoolboy talent to a two-time World Cup-winning captain – the milestone is about more than numbers.
Fleck, who first unleashed Kolisi at the Stormers, remembers a young player whose physicality set him apart but also defied easy categorisation.
“He came to us as a blindside and an eight,” Fleck told News24. “At that stage, he was still learning to get to grips with being an openside because we were so well-stocked there at the time. But he came in as a blindside because he could carry so well; he was effective in that because the biggest part of his game was his carrying ability.”
Kolisi, Fleck explained, has always been a player who bends the definitions of his position.
“He’s not a fetcher; he’s not a Deon Fourie who can go in over the ball or a Kwagga [Smith] who’s really hard on the ball,” he said. “He prefers to link, support people on the run and get the ball, to clean … that’s where he’s moulded himself into this hybrid six.”
John Dobson, who took over the Stormers reins after Fleck and knows Kolisi as both player and person, believes his influence is even more nuanced.
“Where people miss the point is he is so good on his own ball,” said Dobson. “He gets low, through, aggressive … so he helps you generate fast ball and his counter-rucking is amongst the best.”
Dobson pointed out that Kolisi’s unseen work – quickening the Springboks’ ball while slowing the opposition’s – is central to the team’s breakdown philosophy.
“His second effort in the tackle and at the breakdown is phenomenal. He’s the best there is. People miss that part because they don’t see him do that Heinrich Brussow manoeuvre, but he’s doing the same thing in a different way.”
