‘Fans in the stands mean the world to us,’ says Bok skipper Kolisi

The Springboks achieved a major goal of theirs after producing a scintillating performance to claim a thumping 26-10 win over the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship opener at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.

It broke a home losing streak over their great rivals that stretched all the way back to 2014, with Bok captain Siya Kolisi admitting in the build-up that it was a goal of this team to beat them on home soil, as the vast majority of the squad had not done that.

Despite having now achieved that Kolisi was quick to explain that the job was far from done and more was needed in the coming weeks.

“It feels good (to beat them on home soil), but we know the job is not done yet. We still have five games to go (in the Rugby Championship) and the next important game is next week,” said Kolisi.

“To do it (get the win) in front of a crowd like that, I just don’t know how South African people do it. The way they turn up with everything that’s going on in our country.

“The fact that people who can afford it can still come and support us and fill up a stadium like that, it means the world to us as a team.”

Kolisi continued: “Running out and hearing people screaming like that, it drives us as a team. That’s what Jacques (Nienaber) always reminds us about. It’s not about me, if I make a mistake it’s not about me, I must keep on going because it’s about the people who come and watch us play.

“I hope we made them proud today because they definitely got us going from the anthem on.”

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During the match the Boks stuck to their regular kicking based game plan and executed it to perfection, keeping the visitors pinned in their own half for the majority of the match which helped the home side dominate throughout.

They will now hope to build on that as they head into the next match at Ellis Park this coming Saturday.  

“We stuck to our plan and what we wanted to do. The biggest thing was getting to the contestable kicks. If they got the ball, we knew that they have many game breakers, so we had to remain disciplined enough to close down those opportunities and I felt in stages we were able to do that,” said Kolisi.

“But we always expect something from New Zealand. The games against them have always been close the last couple of years. So all we can do now is prepare like we did this (past) week and focus on ourselves. We can’t control what comes from their side.

“We need to make sure that we work hard and that whoever gets an opportunity to play is going to prepare the team well and create great pictures. But we are expecting a tough encounter against them next week.”