"We are the champions," tweeted a jubilant President Cyril Ramaphosa after the Springboks' Rugby World Cup triumph in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday.

Indeed, we are the champions and we are all proud of this moment.

The victory is special and inspirational to all of us as a nation and it was even more noteworthy that we lifted the trophy under the captaincy of Siya Kolisi - the first black Springbok skipper to lift the coveted Webb Ellis Cup.

We thank you captain fantastic for your inspirational leadership and sheer commitment to the cause. We also doff our hats to the rest of the team, coach Rassie Erasmus and his support staff.

Erasmus proved his technical and tactical nous with the boys, and the fact that he will now serve the sport as SA Rugby's director of rugby, brings hope that the next Boks coach will not veer too far from the systems he has placed in place for the team.

As Kolisi said after the trashing of England on Saturday, nothing is unsurmountable in life when people work in tandem to achieve their goals. We hope these words will reverberate across the nation, and help bring the spirit of togetherness the country needs to achieve big things in the midst of the current economic misery.

Kolisi also directly referred to SA's different racial backgrounds, effectively appealing for tolerance and patriotism to drive the spirit of togetherness referred to above.

As witnessed with the rupture of joy and pride in SA after the final whistle in Yokohama, once again sport showed it has the ability to unite the nation. It is now up to all South Africans to pledge their commitment to work for the progress of the country. Racism and violent crime, which has virtually brought an existence of fear to large sections of society, must be kicked to touch for SA to win the fight for a harmonious and free society.

On the sporting front, the Boks victory already has uplifted members of the cricket squad, making the Proteas to believe in winning once again. (See page 21). We also hope it will inspire Bafana Bafana, the national soccer team, as they begin their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan this month.

We urge South Africans to give the Boks a heroes' welcome at OR Tambo Airport tomorrow.