MH.CO.ZA/ August 2019 97SIVIWE
SOYIZWAPI
SEVENS RUGBY PLAYER, SPEEDSTERAGED 26 | 173CM | 85KGSiviwe Soyizwapi is lightning-fast on the rugby
field. Blink, and you’ll miss him.
The Blitzbokke captain started playingthe sport when he was nine years old. Back
then, it was just an extramural activity; now,
the speedster lives for the challenge the game
brings with it.
“I’ve grown passionate about the game.My love for it has grown considerably since
I was doing it as an extramural activity and
competing in high school, to now, where I'm
doing it as a career,” he explains.
While there’s more pressure for him toperform well now, he takes every game in his
stride. “I just take it as another game that I’m
playing in my backyard. If you place the other
players on a pedestal, it disrupts your focus.
Instead, I remind myself of all the preparation
I’ve done; and the rest takes care of itself.”
Part of that preparation is staying in shape.Being fit is an essential requirement for
playing at the professional level Siviwe’s at. But
more than that: fitness is a way he continues to
challenge himself.
“For me, fitness is making a decision to
commit to working hard, making sure that
I’m in the best shape I can be; and fitness
means testing my limits and pushing the
b ou nd a r ie s .”
During the season, Siviwe puts his body
through a lot. The team has intense training
sessions on four days during the week. These
include gym sessions, fitness tests and field
sessions, where each player focuses on what’s
required of him on the field.
“Luckily my body reacts well to the strain
I put it under. I’m not injury prone, but when I
do feel some stiffness in the muscles, I work on
r e c o ver y.”
Recovery takes the form of soft-tissue
treatments from the physio two or three times
a week, coupled with massages that focus on
his quads, hamstrings and calves. On Sundays
he likes to go to the sauna, to do a f lush-out
session. “I’ll go and cycle, sweat, stretch... get
into the sauna, and sweat some more.”
Siviwe was ecstatic when he was called to
take the helm as captain of the Blitzbokke.“Just being on the team is an honour, and
being made captain is even more amazing.”
The speedster is surrounded by a supportive
group of guys who have made it easy for him to
take on the leadership role. “It really helps that
the players understand their roles, what they
have to do to be ready for a game, and what they
need to do on the field.”
The Blitzbokke captain has come a long way
since his days on the school field. Back then, he
doubted his ability to turn rugby into a career.
Unlike other players, he didn’t represent a
provincial side at school level. In fact, he only
made his school’s first team when he was in
matric.
“Things looked like they weren’t going to
work out for me,” he says. “But then, suddenly,
things changed; and I was called to represent
the country on the sevens team in 2016.
“I grew up always having self-doubt, not
backing myself to be as good as the rest. I’ve
come so far since I started believing in myself.
Seeing how far having confidence has taken
me, and how far I’ve come, makes me proud.”