Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said his side would pay Japan the respect they deserve, despite being heavy favourites for their match at Wembley in London.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says the team have immense respect for Japan and do not see Saturday’s encounter at Wembley (kick-off 6:10pm) in London as a warm-up for their end-of-year-tour.
Japan, currently sitting 13th on the World Rugby Rankings chart, are not expected to pose too much of a threat to the top-of-the-table Boks, and a few fans and pundits have even alluded to the match being a warm-up for bigger clashes against France and Ireland which are still to come.
However, the Bok captain, who was part of the team that were infamously defeated in Brighton by Japan at the 2015 World Cup, claimed that they weren’t taking anything for granted, especially after they ran the Wallabies close in Tokyo last weekend.
Special occasion
He added that they wanted to make the match a special occasion, especially for young debutant prop Zachary Porthen, who is playing his first senior international match at just 21-years-old.
“We’ll treat Japan with the respect they deserve. We saw what they did last week against Australia (losing 19-15), who beat us earlier this year (in the Rugby Championship). We have players who play in Japan and have warned us about some of the players we’ll face, so our preparation has been good,” said Kolisi at Friday’s pre-match press conference.
“This is not a warm-up game at all. It will be a special day for all of us putting on the jersey and having that opportunity. I am also excited for Zach (Porthen), who will get his first Test. We want to make it special for him as well.
“What we’ve learned from playing against Japan is that we must dominate physically. We must control the breakdown, because they play fast rugby.
“In that 2019 (World Cup) quarterfinal, it was close until we scored a maul try. They don’t go away. They are a very fit team and well-structured, and we can’t try to play like them. Enforcing our game plan (on them) will be vital.”
Good momentum
The game is also key in giving the Boks vital momentum and energy heading into a blockbuster match against France in Paris next weekend.
The Boks and France have not met since the South Africans dumped the hosts out of the World Cup at the quarterfinal stage in 2023, and it is thus an eagerly anticipated encounter.
A match against Italy, who they have already beaten twice earlier this year in SA, is next up, followed by another monstrous clash against Ireland in Dublin, before the Boks close out their tour against Wales in Cardiff.
Kolisi is thus well-aware how important the Japan match is when he added: “We want to start off our tour strong.”
