The Power of a Higher Purpose

…with a team like this, we come from different backgrounds, different races and we came together with one goal and we wanted to achieve it. I really hope we have done that for South Africa.     – Siya Kolisi

As an England Rugby fan I was gutted to see them lose in today’s Rugby World Cup final in Japan, but it was a bitter-sweet loss given that the game was conceded to South Africa, captained as it was by Siya Kolisi, the first black captain in the history of South African rugby.  As I watched the victory celebrations from the comfort of my sofa on a rainy day in England I was moved to tears – not for the loss suffered by England, but by the sense of hope and wonder at the astonishing impact that having a higher purpose can have on us humans.  There is no doubt that South Africa played a better game of Rugby on the day, but the lasting legacy of the Rugby World Cup Final etched on the memory of many who watched will be of the tenacity, passion and ultimate grace with which men of different races and backgrounds came together for something more than winning the game.