SIYA KOLISI: ‘I HAD TO PROVE MYSELF TO RASSIE ERASMUS…AFTER THE WORLD CUP FINAL THIS WAS THE BIGGEST GAME’
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi felt that he had to produce a big performance against the All Blacks after getting the backing of Rassie Erasmus.
The inspirational skipper was in doubt for the clash against New Zealand after fracturing a bone in his nose.
However, he opted to delay the treatment of the fracture by a week in order to feature in the clash against the All Blacks.
Repaying the faith
After proving his fitness during the week and stating that he would be fine to lead the team, he was selected in the Springboks starting XV.
Kolisi said that for the squad, the clash against the All Blacks in Cape Town was their biggest since the Rugby World Cup final last year and he simply had to put in a strong performance to repay Erasmus‘ faith in him.
He duly delivered with several standout moments including a second-half try to nudge his side into the lead.
“We all wanted to win this game, we knew how big it was,” the Springboks captain said.
“For me, coach Rassie basically gave me a chance when I said I was okay so I had to prove that to him and I couldn’t go half-heartedly.
“No one is going to celebrate you when you play and you don’t go flat out and you said you are fine. I know there is Kwagga [Smith], Marco [van Staden] and others who want this opportunity.”
Half-time talk
Meanwhile, Erasmus believes that the emotion of facing the All Blacks and the drive to claim the Freedom Cup led to South Africa’s slow start.
Kolisi revealed that Bok boss’ honest half-time talk inspired the Springboks’ comeback in the second-half as they overturned the deficit to emerge 18-12 victors thanks to tries by the skipper and replacement hooker Malcolm Marx.
“We need it today too, we didn’t start they way we wanted to and at half-time coach was quite honest with us and the way we started the second-half exactly how we wanted to,” Kolisi added.
“Then the subs came on and did what they always do. This game was really big for us and we spoke about it because after the World Cup final this was the biggest game for us as a group.
“I’m really happy for guys like Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] and Canan [Moodie] – coming back from injury – overall we are happy as a group with this achievement.”
Springboks v All Blacks rivalry
Speaking on the rivalry against the All Blacks, Kolisi added: “We really enjoy playing against them especially because we are not in Super Rugby anymore.
“So it’s special to play against them, it’s a rivalry that’s been going for over 100 years now and there is mutual respect between the two teams who go flat out at one another and afterwards we can have a beer together.
“You can see how the people came out here and last week but I think that South Africans are just hungry to see this team in action and it doesn’t matter who we play, we will fill the stadiums.
“I remember a time that we played and the stadiums were empty, in 2025 we will play them three times, I think it will be huge and something special – hopefully I’m still here.”
2024-09-07T21:11:07Z dg43tfdfdgfd