Savea on why Siya’s Boks are the best

While struggling to digest another gut-wrenching loss to South Africa, World Player of the Year Ardie Savea praised the courage of Siya Kolisi and ruthlessness of the Springboks.

For Savea and the All Blacks, an 18-12 result in Cape Town on Saturday marked the Boks’ fourth consecutive victory over the Kiwis – a record streak in the professional era – and saw the world champions reclaim the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009.

After leading the hosts at half time, much like last week’s clash at Emirates Airline Park, the men in black again faltered in the final stages, and speaking post-match at Cape Town Stadium, Savea shared his disappointment.

“Haven’t mentally processed [everything],” the veteran No 8 told reporters. “It’s more feelings of disappointment and just gutted for the men in the change room.

“We just can’t seem to finish it off. It hurts. To be honest, I don’t know yet [how the All Blacks will fix it].”

Despite their numerous opportunities, the All Blacks failed to capitalise when it mattered most. The Boks, meanwhile, thrived on New Zealand’s mistakes.

“We had lots of opportunities and I thought South Africa scrambled really well out wide,” Savea said. “There were times in the game when we got down to the right areas of the park, but we just either lost the ball at the breakdown or gave away a penalty.

“You can’t do that to a Springbok side, they feed off that. They’ll punish us. They came down into our end of the field and scored points against us, but we’ve made it hard for ourselves.”

The loss was especially tough for a team not used to being outplayed in the final stages. Historically, the All Blacks have been dominant in closing out matches against all opponents, including South Africa. Savea noted a difference in the South African approach this time.

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“I think they understand just how they want to play,” Savea observed. “They’ve got great players in their squad and that’s a testament to everyone in their team and how they operate and manage the game.

“We need to look at ourselves and try and rectify that, because it’s two weeks now we haven’t finished things off. So yeah, disappointed.”

As a senior figure in the squad, Savea spoke about the need for communication on the field, especially in challenging moments. However, it wasn’t enough this time.

“Sometimes with the crowd screaming it can feel like you’re isolated and by yourself, so we’re always talking and acknowledging what’s just happened, what can we do to win the next moment, and the moment after that. We did that a few times, and there were times when we didn’t, and that’s footy.”

Praise also flowed from Savea for Kolisi, who showed immense courage by playing with a fractured nose, scoring a try, and leading his team to victory.

“Siya’s the man… he showed a lot of courage, obviously, playing with the injury to his face so it speaks a lot about Siya,” Savea said of his long-time rival and friend.

He also had positive words for rookie All Blacks blindside flanker Wallace Sititi, who made his mark in just his third Test.

“Wally was awesome tonight, very dangerous with the ball in hand,” Savea said. “For a young fella, he walks around like he’s a veteran, and he acts like a veteran, so very proud of Wally and I’m sure there’s many more Tests to come from him.”

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