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Captain Siya Kolisi says the daily struggles endured by millions of South Africans is fuelling the Springboks\u2019 quest to retain the Rugby World Cup ahead of a semi-final meeting with England.<\/p>\n
Jacques Nienaber\u2019s side are red-hot favourites to progress from a rematch of the 2019 final to set up a winner-takes-all showdown with either New Zealand or Argentina.<\/p>\n
Flanker Kolisi, his country\u2019s first black captain, overcame childhood poverty to lift the Webb Ellis Cup four years ago in Japan.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old referenced homelessness and unemployment during an impassioned answer to a question about motivation and believes failing to give 100 per cent would be \u201ccheating\u201d his compatriots.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that will ever change, who we play for, who we represent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you start playing for others and start doing things for other people it\u2019s not easy to give up, it\u2019s much harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think of how many people would give anything to be where we are and the majority of the people in our country are unemployed, some don\u2019t have homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, giving up and not giving everything would be cheating not just myself and the team but the rest of the people at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe harder we play, the more we do well, the more we are able to open opportunities for others so that also drives us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe we are a purpose-driven team, we\u2019re not a trophy-driven team; of course the trophies help you to get more people with you.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you can look at the struggles of what you\u2019re going through and feel sorry for yourself. But we use that pain and those struggles and we carry them with us to drive us through the battles. It helps us to keep on going when it\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three-time champions South Africa defeated hosts France 29-28 in a thrilling quarter-final to keep their title defence on track.<\/p>\n
Kolisi will lead out an unchanged team for Saturday\u2019s match against Steve Borthwick\u2019s side at Stade de France in Paris.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish you could see all the supporters back at home,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all what people talk about, most of the time, with everything else happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids at schools are sending clips of them singing because they know some of us like singing.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople at work on Fridays wear their green jerseys and the beautiful thing to see is the people who can\u2019t afford the jerseys, they wear anything that\u2019s green, anything that represents the Springboks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see that and that will continuously be our motivation and we know what the team has meant in the past \u2013 not just in sport, for our country in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more purposeful when you don\u2019t do something for yourself, only when you are aiding other people that you don\u2019t even know or never even met.\u201d<\/p>\n
Underdogs England came into the tournament unfancied but are the competition\u2019s only unbeaten team.<\/p>\n
Kolisi insists Borthwick\u2019s men will not be underestimated, despite many pundits and rugby fans feeling a final between the Springboks and the All Blacks is a formality.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we don\u2019t see it that way because we know how good England is in the previous World Cups that they\u2019ve played,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be silly to be thinking like that and we\u2019ve never been like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen in the World Cup, teams not even in the top 10 beating teams in the top 10 so it would be silly to think like that. We\u2019re not in that mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know exactly what we\u2019re going to bring and the motivation we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Africa team: D Willemse; K-L Arendse, J Kriel, D De Allende, C Kolbe; M Libbok, C Reinach; S Kitshoff, B Mbonambi, F Malherbe, E Etzebeth, F Mostert, S Kolisi (capt), P-S Du Toit, D Vermeulen.<\/p>\n
Replacements: D Fourie, O Nche, V Koch, RG Snyman, K Smith, F De Klerk, H Pollard, W Le Roux.<\/p>\n