Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says it has been an emotional week and the team has been hurting since last Saturday’s disappointing 25-17 loss and working hard to rectify what went wrong.
Boks vs Wallabies on 27 August 2022. Twitter/@Springboks
JOHANNESBURG – The Springboks have one more chance to end their nine-year winless run against the Wallabies in Australia on Saturday.
If the world champions do not get their desired result in Sydney, the next opportunity to break what will be a generational curse by then, will only be in 2024.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says it has been an emotional week and the team has been hurting since last Saturday’s disappointing 25-17 loss and they had been working hard to rectify what went wrong.
“We’ve prepared as well as we could. It’s been tough. It was a tough loss last week and we want to be better as a team. We left a lot of opportunities out there on the field,” Kolisi said.
There were few things that went the way of the South Africans in that Rugby Championship match at the Adelaide Oval. Although they dominated territory and possession for large parts of the game, they were unable to capitalise on any pressure they created and found themselves behind on the scoreboard from the word go.
Bok assistant coach, Mzwandile Stick, echoed Kolisi’s words and said they had a demanding week of training and preparation. However, he did not think they would deviate too much from their tried and trusted game plan.
“I think anyone who was watching would say with all the opportunities we had, we [should have] converted them into tries. It’s a positive thing about the game that we created the opportunities but where we were guilty is not to convert them into points,” Stick said.
The Boks have made eight changes to their starting lineup for the Test where 19-year-old Canan Moodie will make his international debut. Kolisi is thrilled to have the teenager in the team and is eager to see how he fares.
“I’m excited for him… I remember playing against him in the [URC] quarterfinals and some of the things he was doing against us, you wouldn’t think he was in high school just a couple of years ago. He’s really good, I’m not even nervous for him,” Kolisi added.
Kick-off on Saturday morning is at 11:35am.
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