South Africa rugby captain Siya Kolisi 'can't explain in words' magnitude of winning World Cup

South African rugby captain Siya Kolisi has said the magnitude of winning the World Cup has not sunk in yet and he cannot wait to get home to celebrate.

Speaking the day after the Springboks' 32-12 victory over England, the 28-year-old said he was unable to put into words what his team's victory meant for him and his country.

"We've been going through quite a lot as a country and the people really got behind us," the first black captain of the Rainbow Nation's team said.

"They really believed and I'm really glad we could do it and go through the last hurdle."

Shortly after South Africa's victory, Kolisi posted an image of himself holding the trophy aloft with the Nelson Mandela quote: “It always seems impossible until its done."

Adding: "South Africa this is for you.

"If we work together and strive to be better, each and every day, we can achieve anything."

For many years, the Springboks were a symbol of white dominance with black South Africans often supporting any team but the Boks.

Many have seen Kolisi's captaining of the team to have surpassed the significance of the 1995 "Madiba" World Cup victory when then-president Mandela donned the shirt of the then-captain, Francois Pienaar.

Kolisi said he could not "explain the words" for what he and his team had achieved in South Africa's third time lifting the Webb Ellis trophy.

"I'm really happy for what we did as a team and what the coaches did, and all the support that we got from back home," he said.

He added he had only managed three-hours of sleep on Saturday night, but spent the small hours just "appreciating the moment" and watching his son sleep.

He added he had received so many messages of supports he could not count them all and that he can't wait to get home and see the people back home".

The final was a game of penalty points until the 66th minutes when South Africa scored and converted the first try of the match, followed by another before the final whistle.

Former captain Francois Pienaar said Kolisi's captaining of the World Cup-winning side was more monumental than when Mr Mandela wore his rugby shirt as the team is more "transformed" from the almost exclusively white team he was part of.

He added he was "immensely proud" of his nation's team and the way in which they had unified South Africa.

Former South African Rugby World Cup winner Bryan Habana agreed that Kolisi's leadership was "more iconic than that incredible moment in '95".

The 2007 winner said he hoped it would act as a "catalyst" in his country and that the "euphoria lasts".

The winger added: "People need to understand that South Africa is a very unique country with some very unique intricacies that no other sporting nation in the world has to deal with, and sport has given our country back so much."