Springbok captain Siya Kolisi isn’t buying into the narrative that England’s young team will be easy pickings in their opening Test match of the year at Ellis Park on Saturday. CLINTON VAN DER BERG reports.
“It’s going to be a tough game. The contest between us and England usually starts up front, at the set-pieces, and England take a lot of pride in how they operate there. We’ll make sure our forwards are ready, especially at scrum and lineout. That’s going to be massive,” he said at a media briefing on Friday.
Kolisi was in top form, smartly avoiding a verbal hand grenade in the form of a sharp question about Tom Curry’s incident with Bongi Mbonambi in the 2023 World Cup semi-final.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’d honestly forgotten about that,” he said, appearing genuinely bemused.
“A lot has happened since then. It’s a new game. If you’re still thinking about something like that, it means your mind isn’t in the game, so we’ve moved on and we’re excited to play against a tough team.
“He’s one of the toughest opponents I’ve ever played against. He’s a special player, and I’ve always enjoyed playing against him. Tomorrow will be no different.”
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Asked about the prevailing public sentiment about England being underdone, Kolisi wasn’t buying it.
“Luckily, we listen to our coaches. We’ve played rugby for a long time and we’ve been written off before, so we know what that feels like. But we’ve prepared like we do for any Test match.
“Given the talent and competition we have in South Africa, we never walk into a Test match assuming we’ll win. If we did, we wouldn’t have prepared the way we have this week. We haven’t been listening to outside noise; we’ve been focused on our own preparation.”
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Given that he made his debut as Springbok captain at Ellis Park in 2018, Kolisi said the ground held a special place in his heart.
“I didn’t watch it live, but of course I think of the 1995 World Cup final. There have also been big Tests we’ve played at that stadium since.
“When I think of Ellis Park, I think of ’95, how big that moment was, not just for rugby but for South Africa as a whole. So many of our dreams were born there.
“Every time I see the photos, I have to pinch myself – some of the legends who played that day were amazing human beings, and it’s where our dreams were born.
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“Since then this has become the team everybody dreams of being part of. We carry all of that with us when we play, and we try to create our own moments as we go, so that one day our kids will look back on the moments we created for them. But that ’95 moment will always be special.”
More history beckons on Saturday.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
