Johannesburg, Jun 16 (IANS): South African national rugby union team, which is commonly known as the Springboks, has raised about R825,000 (48,644 U.S. dollars) to help vulnerable communities affected by COVID-19, said the team on Tuesday.

South Africa Rugby last month launched a hunger alleviation campaign to raise money for charity organisations Food Forward SA and Gift of the Givers, reports Xinhua news agency.

Every member of the 2019 Springbok Rugby World Cup squad, as well as the coaches, have donated a unique prize which can be won by buying raffle tickets for only R32.12, which pays homage to the Boks' winning score in the final last November in Japan.

The team said they will add new prizes almost every day. On Monday, livewire scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies pledged a RWC match jersey and the unique green "Champions" cap the squad wore after they beat England in the final. These items -- and others donated by the players, cannot be bought.

Other prizes revealed so far include a match jersey worn by Siya Kolisi in a RWC pool encounter, Faf de Klerk's SA flag-print underwear, Rassie Erasmus's lucky white shirt and a talk to raise funds for the winner's charity of choice, as well as a personalized RWC Trophy Tour to the house of one lucky winner.

"I went hungry when I was a kid, but it was nothing as bad as some people are suffering right now. We might not raise millions, but you don't know how much it means to each single person to have one proper meal a day -- it could save their lives right now," said Siya Kolisi, South African rugby national team captain.