The Springboks will not shy away from their aggressive playing style against Ireland, despite their recent spate of red cards.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says his team have been doing everything that they can to keep all 15 men on the field, which they will need to do if they want to end their losing run in Ireland, against the hosts at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday night (kick-off 7:40pm SA time).
The Boks have showed incredible grit to clinch 32-17 and 32-14 wins over France and Italy respectively over the past two weekends despite receiving two first half permanent red cards in both matches.
Lood de Jager was banned for his indiscretion against France, but Franco Mostert’s red was expunged after a disciplinary committee deemed that his tackle should have been no more than a yellow.
Naturally aggressive
Kolisi claimed that they have been doing everything that they can in training to make sure their tackles are legal, but that they are a naturally aggressive team and wouldn’t be standing back for anyone.
“Of course we want to play with 15 men and we have been working really hard, since the beginning, on all the controllables, like level changing, wrapping and all of that kind of stuff. We have been doing that over and over,” explained Kolisi at the pre-match press conference on Friday.
“But the one thing about us is that we are an aggressive team and that can’t be taken away from us, hence why we work so hard on those things … to make sure that we can all stay on the field.
“Ireland are a really good team, that is why we have struggled to win here for so many years. So we are going to need everyone (to stay on the field).”
Kolisi added: “It’s also all about taking your opportunities. In the games that we have lost by one or two points (in the past), we have got opportunities at the end but haven’t taken them. So we have learnt a lot from our previous games and we have worked really hard (in training) this week.
“It is a very important game, everybody knows that. So we have to be at our best and take our opportunities in every single moment when we get them this weekend.”
Away challenges
This year the Boks have played some huge games away from home, against the All Blacks in Auckland and Wellington, with them winning one and losing one, and against France in Paris which they triumphed in, and they now face another against Ireland in Dublin.
But Kolisi said they didn’t need any extra motivation for this match, and that they would continue to do what they have been doing over the whole year, as they try and secure the number one World Rugby ranking by the end of the year.
“We say it all the time, that it is a privilege and honour to pull on the Springbok jersey. So our motivation and our purpose is consistent in every single game. Nothing changes, it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we will give respect to the team we are playing against and we will work as hard as we can,” explained Kolisi.
“Obviously we know it is a big year with the World Cup pool draw to take place (in December). So we have been working so hard to remain number one in the world (to secure a favourable draw), and I think we have done well so far.”
