Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is hoping for an improved all-round performance from his team when they take on the All Blacks in Wellington.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said the team knew exactly what was at stake as they chase what could be a season defining win in their second Rugby Championship Test against fierce rivals the All Blacks at the “Cake Tin” in Wellington on Saturday (kick-off 9:05am SA time).
Their loss at Eden Park a week ago has left the Boks on the verge of seeing their chances of retaining the title they won last year going up in smoke, and they know a loss will likely end any chances of them repeating the feat.
Another defeat would also consign them to a third loss of the season, which would already be more than over the whole of last year, with half their 2025 campaign still to go, and that could put them into an uncomfortable space.
Same prep
Kolisi said that despite the changes in the team, their preparation had remained the same this week and they were gearing up for the massive game as they have always done for a Test match.
“You must prepare exactly the same as you do for every Test. Nothing must change. There is so much at stake on Saturday, and so much pressure already, so we don’t need to add any more by adding new things,” explained Kolisi.
“Apart from Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) coming in at flyhalf and taking charge of the running of the game, and Ruan Nortjé and Lood de Jager taking care of the lineouts, nothing special or out of the norm has been done this week.
“If we look back at the games that we have won, the big games we have played, we never did anything different in our preparation.”
Kolisi said the team had taken the learnings from their disappointing 24-17 loss at Eden Park last weekend, and that they were ready to put in an improved showing, especially at the breakdown, where they are boosted by the return of bruising eighthman Jasper Wiese from suspension.
We’ll be ready
“We definitely learned from the previous game. We saw the strategy they used and we’ve made plans for that. We’ll be ready for it this weekend,” said Kolisi.
“It’s good to have Jasper Wiese back, but they also have backs who counter at the breakdown. Leroy Carter, who came from Sevens, we saw clips of him getting into breakdowns too. So it’s not just the forwards, it’s also the backline players.
“We know we weren’t good enough last week, especially on our exits, and they came hard at our breakdown. We worked on it this week and we’ve learned from it.”
The team’s finishing also left a lot to be desired in Auckland and they will need to sharpen up and make sure to take their chances, if they want to pick up what would be a big win in the context of their season.
“It was tough to see. To create 13 opportunities in the 22m and only take two of them, you don’t (often) get that many chances. Some teams get that maybe in a year, and you rarely get that against the All Blacks,” said Kolisi.
“We saw how we stuffed it up, and a lot of it was our own doing. That was the difficult part. It was frustrating watching it back. Sometimes it was an individual error, and then another one.
“Hopefully we learn from it and fix it this weekend. When we get opportunities, we must take them. The All Blacks didn’t get a lot, but the ones they had, they took.”
