Springboks captain Siya Kolisi is elated to be back and ready to face the All Blacks in the second of four matches in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in Cape Town on Saturday evening.
Kolisi was declared fit on Monday and named captain after recovering from the injury he sustained during the Test against Argentina two weeks ago.
“I feel good, strong, and I think the toughest part was more the mental battle. I think people always think it’s the injury itself. You know you’re always going to heal, but I think it’s the mental one. You know, you don’t know which game you’re going to be back in. But I have good support, you know, with the coaching staff,” said Kolisi.
Despite the 33-16 loss to the All Blacks last Saturday, Kolisi believes that the team played well.
He called on the team not to despair, adding that there are still three more games in the series.
“We’ve all been in this position before, like you say, with the British & Irish Lions Series and at the World Cup, losing the first game. We need to go and play and execute. Like the coach said, when we watched the game afterwards, we watched it as rugby players, or playing on the field with the coaching staff,” explained Kolisi.
Furthermore, the captain is adamant that, had the team converted its opportunities, the scoreline could have been different.
Meanwhile, Springboks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says the team is disappointed with last week’s loss, especially considering the opportunities they created.
“There was a time when we were in control, and playing against the All Blacks, if you don’t take opportunities like we had and we didn’t convert. I don’t want to go through the stats, but if you play against one of the best teams in the world now, I think that’s one of the biggest lessons we’ve got from the game,” explained Stick.
