Another win will be the cherry on the cake for Siya

IT WILL again be another emotionally charged day for the Springboks in their second Test against England in Bloemfontein this evening.

A win at Ellis Park last Saturday overshadowed the excitement of Siya Kolisi becoming the first black Bok captain and the dawn of a new era under coach Rassie Erasmus, and the Boks will want to use the emotions of this week to galvanise them to victory again.

Veteran loosehead prop Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira will become the sixth South African international to make his 100th Test appearance after Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, John Smit, Jean de Villiers and Percy Montgomery, and will be the first black South African to achieve the milestone and only the eighth prop in world rugby to do so.

Kolisi will again be in the headlines as he celebrates his 27th birthday in his second Test in charge, while plenty of fanfare has been made about the rumoured presence of President Cyril Ramaphosa today as part of Youth Day celebrations.

Erasmus said the Boks cannot avoid the emotions of the day, but will try and use them as motivation similar to last weekend.

“I guess it is impossible for guys to keep the emotions away, it happens and is a reality of the game. If the guy can handle that and still put in the performance that is the big secret,” Erasmus said.

“If you can bottle that emotion and say my job is this... it is my 100th Test match or my birthday or whatever the case may be, like Siya did last week, which was a big occasion for him but he was focused. We expect the same from Beast and Siya again.

“All of us, we shouldn’t make a hype that the focus goes away from the game. We will use it, but I guess channelled in the right direction,” he added.

“It is nice, the support we are getting currently, and it is an honour. The only way we can repay the positivity around the Springbok team is putting an effort that matches it.

“Things like that are an honour, but it is all words if you say that – you have to go out there and play that way so that people can see we appreciate that.”

Kolisi said any milestone reached at the Free State Stadium today would be meaningless if the Boks don’t beat England to seal the three-Test series 2-0.

England have never won a series in South Africa and run the risk of continuing that trend after last weekend’s 42-39 defeat.

“Obviously we would love to win the series this week and we are striving to win every game. But we can only control what we can,” Kolisi said.

“The guys that played last week are more calm now and focused. If we can win it this weekend it will be amazing.”

Siya Kolisi