Andrew Hollely

Husband to the gorgeous @JulesHo7 | Father | Christ follower | Sports nut | Lazy marathon runner #GGMU #Bokke #ProteaFire

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

Efficient and friendly. Always on time, in fact always early! Best airline in South Africa! @FlySafair #CustomerExperience #FlyWithFlySafair #FlySafairCares

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@derekalberts1 Absolute disgrace. Hope that bonus point they earned doesn’t determine the outcome of the Rugby Championship.

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@rob_hth We’re older than you think. First one was 32 years ago!! Does feel like yesterday…I recall more moments from that WC than any other since.

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

Winning runs hit at 4.38am in SA. Perfect timing! #ProteaFire #438

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@GraemeSmith49 Winning runs hit at 4.38am. Perfect timing! #ProteaFire #438

[Derek Alberts @derekalberts1]

Retweet if you’re up at 2:30 to watch our @ProteasMenCSA play their World Cup Semi. Spread awareness. We need all eyes on Aiden and his men.

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@RoryPetzer So far 1 beer. 2 wickets. Hopefully beer wins. Over.

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

🤣🤣🤣

[Dean Oelschig @DeanOelsch]

This is the best. No idea who made this so sorry for credit but this is just absolute gold.

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

This section of his video is just pure poetry. The video as while is world class. Pity World Rugby have censored it.

[Khaya Dlanga @khayadlanga]

What an absolutely beautiful, kind and classy tribute to Siya Kolisi by Squidge Rugby. This is not only a tribute to Siya but in some ways, a love letter to the Boks and maybe, just maybe, to us as South Africans too.

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@SquidgeRugby World class analysis! Your tribute to Siya was simply sensational…I hope he gets to see it.

[Scrumming Flyhalf @scrumming_ten]

We never got to capitalize on the last World Cup win because of the pandemic

I'm so happy we got a 2nd chance

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@bernardjackman @RTEsport @RTErugby Fantastic piece of insightful analysis! Thank you Bernard. And they put that effort in on the back of the most insanely sapping QF and SF against the best attacking side in the world. Immense.

[Jared Wright @jaredwright17]

#ChasingTheSun2 can’t wait!

2024.

[Khaya Dlanga @khayadlanga]

Siya Kolisi is the greatest rugby captain of all time.

It is true that Ritchie McCaw marshaled back to back World Cups with The All Blacks in 2011 and 2015.

In 2011 The All Blacks won the World Cup at home New Zealand. Our back to back titles were won on foreign soil.

First of all playing at home has significant advantages in any sport. In soccer the chances of winning at home are between 60% - 70%, in rugby it’s 60%.

Not to be disrespectful towards other teams but the opposition 🇳🇿 faced in 2015 was easy compared to the adversaries 🇿🇦 faced in 2023.

These are the countries, their rankings and final scores played by 🇳🇿 , (they were ranked world number 1 and were the overwhelming favourites going into the competition in 2015).

New Zealand 26 - 16 Argentina (ranked 9th)
New Zealand 58 - 14 Namibia (ranked 23rd)
New Zealand 43 - 10 Georgia (ranked 15th)
New Zealand 47 - 9 Tonga (ranked 13th)
New Zealand 62 - 13 France ((ranked 7th)

The only real opposition they faced that year were the Springboks in the semifinals:
New Zealand 20 - 18 South Africa (ranked 2nd)

Final: New Zealand 34 - 17 Australia (ranked 5th)

This Springbok team’s victory and Siya Kolisi’s captaincy outstrips All Black’s back to back titles by some distance in my opinion because of the quality of opponents they faced and the fact that other nations have upped their game.

Let me provide the same statistics for 2023, but for the Springboks this time. (For ease, I will use current rankings even though Ireland, France and Scotland were ranked number 1, 2 and 5 respectively when we played against them.)

By the way, these were the strongest ever Irish, French and Scottish teams. And this was the year the Northern Hemisphere sides were going to dominate. Ireland along with France were the clear favourites.

SA 18 - 3 Scotland (ranked 6th)
SA 76 - 0 Romania (ranked 20th)
SA 8 - 11 Ireland (ranked 2nd)
SA 48 - 18 Tonga (ranked 16th)

Quarter final: SA 29 - 28 France (ranked 4th)

Semifinal: SA 16 - 15 England (ranked 5th)

Final: SA 12 - 11 New Zealand (ranked 3rd)

We won three games in a row by a single point. That’s the sign of a team with unrivaled mental toughness. As Al Pacino said on Any Given Sunday, “It’s a game of inches.”

This team played 3 finals in a row and won each by a single point. A game of inches.

Do you understand the mental fortitude, and the trust you have to have in your teammates and your coaches to pull that off? Three. Times. In. A. Row?

This is why Siya’s leadership cannot and must not be downplayed.

The story of his own life is a game of inches. He clawed his way up from a difficult childhood that many black South Africans are familiar with, to a good school by clinging on to a believe that life had more for him and he also clung on for dear life to the faith he has in God.

Siya also knows that no one is self-made which is why he always talks about the other leaders in the group.

He makes the team and the team makes him.

This is what Rassie said after he made him captain, 'I lost a lot of friends when I made Siya captain. There was a lot of nastiness. Before the World Cup, my daughters' friends' parents would say, "Tell that f****** father of yours to stop sucking up for a pay cheque'. Well, we all know the history of this country.

In some ways, the adversities he faced as a young boy in the townships prepared him for such a time as this. To claw his way no matter what.

He transcends the sport in a way Ritchie McCaw didn’t. He is arguably the biggest global rugby icon right now.

He is without doubt the undisputed greatest rugby captain of all time. Leading the greatest rugby team of all time, coached by the greatest coaching team of all time, Rassie Erusmas and Jacques Nienaber. And they brought the cup during some of our lowest moments as a country since democracy.

And that’s that on that.

[The Good, The Bad & The Rugby @GoodBadRugby]

Rassie Erasmus is overcome with emotion as South Africa welcomes the World Champions home! 🇿🇦🏆

🎥 Eyewitness News

#RWC2023 #Springboks

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@RoryPetzer Good morning Champion! Today we play the Kiwis again! #ProteaFire

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@BrentLindeque Also Ben Smith. Not even sure he’s a real person. Just a pseudonym created for clicks. Ignore. And great work on the screenshot 💪

4 more years 🏆🏆🏆🏆🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

@GillianYoungBe1 Also Ben Smith… he’s an irrelevant, click-grabbing, wannabe journalist. We should really not be giving him airtime 😬

[Andrew Hollely @andrewho7]

#NewProfilePic