‘Our thing is not giving up,’ says captain Kolisi after back-to-back wins against All Blacks

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says that the team’s never-say-die attitude is why they can continue pulling results out of the fire, after they came back from a halftime deficit to beat the All Blacks 18-12 in their Rugby Championship game in Cape Town on Saturday.

Playing in front of a passionate full house, the Boks found themselves trailing 9-3 at the break, despite having arguably shaded the exchanges in the first half.

Two tries in the second half then helped them turn the match on its head, as they had done at Ellis Park a week before, to clinch their fourth straight win in the competition.

Kolisi was the first to dot down during Saturday’s match at the Cape Town Stadium, crashing through the All Blacks defence and over the line early in the second half, which was the highlight of an impressive performance from the captain, who decided to play the match with a broken nose picked up in the previous game.

“We all wanted this. We knew how big it was. The coach gave me a chance when I said that I’m ok, so I had to prove it,” explained Kolisi on how he was allowed to play despite being injured.

“I couldn’t go out half-heartedly. Nobody’s going to celebrate you if when you play, you don’t go flat out. I know that there’s (fellow loose forwards) Kwagga (Smith) and Marco (van Staden), who want this opportunity.

“We also didn’t start (the game) the way we wanted to start. The coach was quite honest with us. In the second half, we did exactly what we wanted. The subs came on and did what they always do.”

‘Go again’

Two areas of the match that the Boks struggled in were in the lineouts, where they lost a number of throws on their own ball, and at the breakdown, where the All Blacks dominated.

However, Kolisi said it was all about how the team responded to those struggles, which they did, and in the end managed to get over the line with another win.

“When those things happen, there’s two options that you have … it’s either you’re going to accept that they are doing it and give up, become a victim, or, you can fix the next one. If you make a mistake, you get up and go again,” said Kolisi.

“The lineouts weren’t just on Ruan (Nortje), it’s on everybody. Look at how Ruan keeps going and how many tackles he makes after that.

“Our thing is that we aren’t going to give up. We are giving our best for the people of South Africa. You are not going to win every single battle, just keep on pushing and trying, coming up with a plan. Every single person has a role in that.”