Siya confident extra game will mean further Bok improvement

Siya Kolisi © Getty Images

Siya confident extra game will mean further Bok improvement

Gavin Rich

Fri 06 Aug, 13:06

Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi is leading his team into Saturday’s deciding test against the British and Irish Lions confident that the extra game time his team accumulated last week should lead to a further improvement on what they produced in their impressive win last week.


* Get DStv Premium to watch all British & Irish Lions action live *

If there was one question mark the Boks took into this series, which is being played in its entirety at the Cape Town Stadium, it was the lack of international game time, plus a more general lack of match practice caused by the changes to the schedule forced by the Covid outbreak in their camp a few weeks ago.

They did not play the much needed second test against Georgia, and some key players were not available for the South Africa A game against the Lions 10 days before the series started.So they’ve been playing catch-up from the outset, and that was still the case in the first test, when the Boks looked well short of a gallop once the Lions put the squeeze on them after halftime.

Last week they were arguably helped by the slowness of the game due to the amount of time the match officials took to adjudicate all the incidents and plays that required it, but this week it appears Kolisi doesn’t feel his team needs any kind of help.

“The extra game (that we played last week) has definitely helped us and game time is the only way to get match fit,” said Kolisi on the eve of the deciding test. “Last week was just the second week that we had the full group together, and we capitalised on that. For us nothing changes and there is nothing to change, we know there is improvement we can make and we are confident we will make that improvement.”

A FINAL FOR US

And while there was speculation from Lions coach Warren Gatland that the Boks might hit a bump this week due to the emotional and physical energy expended in the 27-9 second test win, Kolisi denies that will be the case.

“This is definitely a final for us, like it is for the Lions, and it has been the talk among us the whole week,” said the Bok captain.

“We have worked really hard to get in this position, to come back from being one test down to square the series and now be in a position to win it. We are where we wanted to be and where we worked so hard to be, we don’t want to let it slip now. Last week’s win was a really good performance but we know it will mean nothing and be forgotten if we don’t follow up tomorrow (Saturday).

“We will never get another chance to play the Lions again, so everything has been thrown into preparing for this game. It is a motivation to make sure last week counts for something. We play to get somewhere, and now we are in the position we wanted to be. We fixed what we had to fix, but the guys are still looking at clips to see where they can get better. This is the final, the one that matters the most because it will be the one that gets remembered the most.”

TRIUMPH TO GET SERIES TO THIS POINT

While there were the inevitable questions at the pre-game captain’s press conference about the Boks slowing the game down and playing boring rugby - still a really odd contention when they are the team that has scored the most tries and the only side to have scored backline tries so far in the series - both Kolisi and assistant coach Mzwandile Stick feel it has been a triumph just to get the series to this point.

“The challenge we have faced now is not just the Bok team, it is the whole world. Everyone faces big challenges in the pandemic,” said Stick. “So for us to be sitting here before a final game, a game that the public deserves, is a win in itself. It is a pity there are no spectators, but after what we have been through, you can’t ask for a better finish than the game we are looking forward to.

“Either way it is going to be good to be able to say afterwards that we adapted really well to the challenges we faced. The same goes for the Lions and I think it will come down to that on Saturday, the team that adapts best to the conditions and the challenges thrown at them will be the winners.”

Stick said that the issue of slowing the game down was not something in the Boks' control.

“I am not sure about this stuff about us slowing the game because the referee is in charge and it has nothing to do with us. Obviously the referees need more time to make decisions now and if they need two minutes to make a decision they take two minutes,” he said.

“We control the ball in play, and if they want to pick it up and that is their plan then they must do that. I don’t remember our players doing anything intentional to slow the game down last week. But if the Lions want to play touch rugby that will be good for us.”

Kolisi added that his team plays what is in front of it and added that his attitude was that as long as everything was fair and square, he’d be happy to concede defeat on Saturday if the Lions proved to be the best team.

“That is always what we pride ourselves on, we want a positive game and if we are beaten fair and square we will accept that, at the end of the day it just has to be fair and that is all we care about. The best team on the day must win,” said the World Cup-winning Bok captain.

SuperSport