Siya Kolisi: I'm so proud of Temba

Kolisi is all too aware of the pressure of competing at international level and the pressure that the ever-proud South African supporters put on their heroes.

From one champion to another, the Springbok leader was full of admiration for Bavuma, who scored a gutsy 66 while batting with a hamstring strain in the final innings at Lord's.

"I'm proud of Temba, I'm really proud," he told a press conference during the Bok training camp in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"He went through a tough period where he got a lot of criticism because he couldn't get runs. But he carried on fighting as he showed when his hamstring was sore. His career kind of went the same way in that he fought through it and did the best he could."

Kolisi added how impressed he was that the underdog team came together, blocked out all the criticism around the WTC format and delivered a performance for the ages. He also praised the mental toughness of Lungi Ngidi, the formerly banned Kagiso Rabada and the under-pressure Aiden Markram, who scored a century on Day 4.

"I know it's huge for the country," Kolisi continued.

"You saw the reactions of people in South Africa, the reaction of all of us as Africans. The one thing about South Africans, whenever we are fighting, people get behind them.

"We know it's been a tough journey for the Proteas. So to do something like this, and the manner that they did it in, with all the noise going on around them. That they'd only played a few tests. That all the other countries deserved to be there.

"It looked like they weren't going to do it in the first couple of days.

"The great thing about it is that it was a team effort. It wasn't just one person who stood up. I mean, Lungi struggled the first innings and he came back in the second. Kagiso was amazing. Aiden got zero in the first innings and he fought his way though [the second innings]. It shows a lot of who we are as South Africans."

The Proteas returned to a hero's welcome at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday, where Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie was on had to welcome them, and the Test mace, home.  

READ MORE: Ardie Savea follows All Blacks superstars to Japan