Photos: Video Screenshots
On a parched pitch in an impoverished South African township, a group of young men do push-ups on the hard ground before kicking off a game of rugby.
A few years ago the oval ball was an unusual sight in Tembisa, a predominantly Black suburb northeast of Johannesburg, where dusty roads bustle with street vendors and football is king.
But a 2019 Rugby World Cup victory by a national team skippered by Siya Kolisi, the first Black player to wear the armband in an international match, has helped turn the tide.
Tembisa, where crime is rife, unemployment is high and some families live in makeshift homes made of corrugated iron, is no exception.
“We have a lot of new players coming in week in and week out,” said Siyabonga Mogale, a 21-year-old with short dreadlocks and quick feet who plays as fullback for the local team, the Tembisa Stallions.
“A lot of people are very interested in rugby now.”
Yet, despite the hype surrounding Kolisi, analysts say the legacy of South Africa’s long history of racial segregation is still holding back progress towards equal representation in the sport.
