KOLISI IS SO PROUD
SKIPPER: IT WAS A SPECIAL WIN, A VERY SPECIAL DAY Mendoza, Brisbane defeats galvanised Rassie’s Springboks.
The impact of their historic win in Wellington has run much deeper than just an amazing result, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi believes.
Not only did it give the Boks a sense of self-belief, after they ended a four-year drought against the All Blacks, but it could also provide momentum for next year’s World Cup, with the 36-34 win lifting the Boks two positions to fifth in the world rankings.
“It was a special win, a very special day and I’m so proud of the guys, and just ecstatic we could make South Africa proud once again,” Kolisi said.
The Boks needed to reset, however, with the possibility that they could be without the services of fullback Willie le Roux and flank Francois Louw, who had to return to Wasps and Bath respectively.
New life had nonetheless been injected in the Rugby Championship, with the Boks closing to within six points of the All Blacks and preparing to play their last two Tests at home against the Wallabies next week in Port Elizabeth and the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld next month.
“We kept our focus and we really had belief,” Kolisi said.
“Coach Rassie (Erasmus) and the other coaching staff did an excellent job to prepare us after we lost the previous two.”
It remained a mystery of Bok rugby down the years, however, that they almost needed to be written off completely before delivering a performance which stunned the opposition, their own starved supporters and the rugby world.
Kolisi admitted their recent disappointing defeats in Mendoza and Brisbane probably did play a role in driving the under-fire team to bigger heights.
“We wanted to look each other in the eye and said we did the best that we could against the best team in the world,” the skipper said.
“The boys did just that and I’m so proud of all of them.”