Springbok captain Siya Kolisi cut a frustrated figure after his team were thumped by the Wallabies at Ellis Park.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has emphatically denied that his players were tired after a tough three week training camp, following their shock 38-22 defeat to the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park on Saturday.
It was a huge upset from the visitors from Down Under, and was even more shocking after the Boks tore into a 22-0 lead after 18 minutes, before falling away terribly over the rest of the match, particularly in the second half when they conceded five tries.
Leading up to the game a number of Bok players and coaches had revealed how the team had gone through one of their toughest ever training camps to prepare themselves for the Rugby Championship, especially after a relatively easy start to their season.
Kolisi was on Saturday night asked if the players may have been feeling the effects of that training during the match, as it was expected that the Wallabies would struggle in the second half on the Highveld, and not the home team, which proved to be the case in the end.
Unacceptable
“We let ourselves down a lot. We have to take that on the chin. It’s unacceptable. You start like that and then take your foot off the pedal. It’s unacceptable,” said a clearly frustrated Kolisi after the match.
“We felt fine. When you attack over and over and you get to the 22, and someone steals the ball, that takes your energy. It’s not because you are tired. I can never make an excuse like that. We felt fine throughout the game.
“When we wanted to dominate the scrum, get the penalty, kick out, they would win the lineout. That takes your energy, it’s not being tired. I can’t make an excuse like that. That would be unacceptable.
“But when you lose a lineout, when you don’t get a scrum penalty, and then they steal the ball just before you get to the tryline, that makes it difficult. So it’s not being physically tired.”
Tough to take
Kolisi admitted that it was a tough result to take, due to how well their preparation had gone, and being more accustomed to the Highveld due to training there for three weeks, while the Aussies had less than half of that time.
However, he said that they wouldn’t dwell on the result and would pick themselves up swiftly to prepare for the second match in Cape Town this coming weekend.
“As the game went on, they looked like they had more energy than us and just wouldn’t go away. That is one of the hardest things to take. We have been here (in Johannesburg) for three weeks, so that’s why this result is so disappointing,” explained Kolisi.
“But we can’t cry about it. We are disappointed and hurting, but we are going to watch and analyse the game carefully, and hear the new plan from the coaches. We will lift ourselves up. Whatever criticism we get we deserve it and will take it, as we do when we are praised.”
Bok boss Rassie Erasmus will name his matchday-23 for Saturday’s Test in Cape Town on Tuesday.
