Madosh Tambwe laughs at the suggestion that he could be anything other than South African.

He was a month old when his parents upped sticks from Kinshasa and moved to South Africa, where his dad was hired as an engineer, just as the embers of the First Congo War were dying down.

He grew up in the suburbs of Joburg, played soccer at Highlands Park and tried his hand at rugby at Parktown Boys. He was lithe and quick, his 10,61 sec best for the 100m making him a devastating finisher. Rugby won the day.

Just 19, he scored two tries for the Lions in just his second Super Rugby match last weekend.

As a pro rugby player, Tambwe is firmly on his way.

Tambwe is at the vanguard of a quiet revolution brewing in South African rugby. With the country having cast off its skunk nation status in the early 1990s, it has since attracted émigrés from all over Africa. Inevitably, their offspring have adopted the cultural mores of their new homeland, some gravitating towards rugby on account of their size, their schooling or their background.

The early forebears of this revolution were players like the Sharks’ Beast Mtawarira (born in Harare), former Lions strongman Brian Mujati (born in Bulawayo), the Cheetahs’ Raymond Rhule (born in Accra, Ghana) and Kennedy Tsimba (born in Harare), who used to play for the Cheetahs.

Not forgetting Zimbabwe-born Tonderai Chavhanga, the lightning-quick wing who still holds the Springbok record for tries in a Test match, his six against Uruguay in 2005 earning him his place in the record books.

A few years ago Daniel Adongo of Kenya, who spent time at the Sharks academy, passed through SA rugby with stops in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. An enormous athlete, it came as no surprise that he finally ended up with the Indianapolis Colts as a linebacker.

Not only have such players added to the curious pot-pourri of colours, languages and cultures that make up SA rugby, they have undoubtedly helped transform the game. As black players, they represent the sport in its most inclusive form, a not unimportant factor in a game that still grapples with its identity.

Happily, this development shows no sign of abating. Chrysander Botha of Namibia was born in Walvis Bay, but has played almost all his senior rugby in SA where he now turns out for the Kings. He played junior and senior rugby at the Lions and also had a season at the Falcons.

The Cheetahs have also just gained the extravagantly named Luther Banks St Charles Obi from the Bulls.

Obi was born in Nigeria, but has flourished as a player in SA where he won selection as a wing to the national under-20 squad in 2013. He scored a brace of tries in his five appearances and was joint-second in the try-scoring at the Junior World Cup behind teammate Seabelo Senatla.

On the Sevens front, Tim Agaba is one of the standouts and starred in the Olympics. He was born in Uganda.

This revolution also represents a strong counterpoint to the endless player drain away from South Africa with Europe and Japan now almost an inevitable stop on a player’s career trajectory. The players themselves may not be drawn to SA, but from the decision of their parents to seek better lives has sprung this unintended consequence.

“I don’t even think about it,” says Tambwe, whose guardian happens to be Andrew van Zyl, a Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight champion and coach of the Parktown Boys first XV. “I feel blessed and privileged the way things have turned out.”

His heroes – Anthony Volmink, Courtnall Skosan, Sonny Bill Williams and Quade Cooper – could be any aspirant’s. His place of birth matters little in a rugby context to him; he just wants to play.

For years, England was the fortunate recipient of young Nigerian talent with big Maro Itoje – born in the UK of Nigerian parents – the latest tyro off the line. Loads more, like Adedayo Adebayo, Steve Ojomoh and Victor Ubogu were born or raised in Nigeria. Given their physical characteristics, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if more headed our way.

Indeed, celebrating SA rugby’s great melting pot is a welcome departure from the usual moans and groans that accompany the game.

The revolution is at our door. Let’s welcome it. – © Sunday Tribune