WATCH: Mallett gets emotional reflecting on iconic Kolisi commentary

This past Sunday, an intensely personal new documentary, Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story premiered on DStv. The film tells the tale of Kolisi’s upbringing and tracks his path from hopelessness to captain of South Africa, and one of the most influential sports people ever.

During a SuperSport show this past weekend, a group of panelists including Nick Mallett, Swys de Bruin and Odwa Ndungane chatted about Kolisi, his documentary and also reflected on Kaunda Ntunja’s iconic commentary of the flanker’s debut as the Springbok captain.

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Ntunja tragically passed away in 2020, and former Nick Mallett teared up while listening back to a moment that has become a special part of his legacy.

“I get emotional listening to Kaunda’s voice, we miss him!” Mallet commented. “But the performance he gave for Siya was worthy of that achievement. It was incredible to see a black South African captaining the Springboks for the first time, and so deservedly. From that moment he went on to win a World Cup and the British & Irish Lions series, and he’s still captaining the team now as we head towards defending another World Cup is a magnificent achievement.”

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You can watch the video below as Mallett and his fellow panelists reflected on the Siya Kolisi story:

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Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story premiered on DStv in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa on 26 February, offering exclusive insights into the making of the man, both on and off the rugby field. It will also be shown on Showmax in March.

In the latest preview shared by SuperSport, the documentary is described as “raw, brave, funny and remarkable”.

“To Kolisi’s credit, his story is unvarnished and even unpleasant in parts,” the preview reads. “There are deeply revealing cameos with his wife Rachel, who at one point exhorts that she doesn’t want to make him seem ‘like a monster’ in her telling of their journey together.

“So too the fractured, difficult relationship with his father, a flawed man with whom Siya has a tangled link. For all its pathos, it is part of what adds to the depth and quality of the film. It also reaffirms the staggering turnaround by the player himself, a man who admits to struggling with the demon drink and partying a little too hard in his early years.

“Fundamentally, he started life on the backfoot in Zwide in the Eastern Cape and endured struggles every step of the way. That he managed to make his way out to emerge as South Africa’s No 1 sporting hero is a scarcely believable miracle.

“What the film also shows is how he has managed to straddle both of his realities: the one as a man from the township, the other as a father now living contentedly in suburbia.”

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In the lead-up to the premiere, Kolisi has conducted an interview with SuperSport, which again reveals a different side to the 31-year-old as he discusses a range of subjects from mental health, to reconnecting with his dad to the challenges of his upbringing.

YOU CAN WATCH SOME OTHER PREVIEW CLIPS FROM KOLISI BELOW:

You can also watch the discussion on mental health by clicking here

In another clip, the national captain also recounts his painful childhood and being helpless against the frequent abuse of his mother. Click here to watch that portion of the interview.

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