‘It’s been a good year but room for improvement’ — Siya Kolisi

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was satisfied with his team’s performance in their 45-12 win against Wales in their final end-of-year-tour match in Cardiff on Saturday night, but said that there was still plenty of room for improvement.

Overall it was a fantastic year for Boks, as they won 11 out of 13 games, clinched the Rugby Championship title, and claimed a clean sweep of their tour to the UK, also beating Scotland 32-15 and England 29-20.

Even their two losses during the year, against Ireland in Durban and Argentina in Santiago del Estero, were by just one point, and could have ended up as wins for the Boks with a drop goal after the fulltime hooter getting Ireland over the line, while Manie Libbok missed an easy late penalty against Argentina.

‘Grateful’

Despite such a dominant year, Kolisi believes that the Boks can get even better and that is something they will hope to do next year.

“I am really proud of the boys. We had to work today for the win. We knew what the Welsh team was going to bring, and we had to dig deep. So I am grateful to what we have done as a group,” said Kolisi.

“We are happy with our attack (in scoring seven tries). There is a lot that we can still fix but we knew it was going to be tough. The guys that came in took their opportunities which was good to see.

“We just wanted to finish the year strong. It’s been a really good year for the team but there is so much room for improvement. We will only meet each other now in seven months, so we had to make sure we finished well.”

Welsh struggles

For Wales it has been a disastrous year, losing all 11 matches, which sees them on a 12 match losing streak after losing last year’s World Cup quarterfinal, while it is the first time since 1937 that they finished a calendar year winless.

Coach Warren Gatland is under immense pressure, and the team is going through a rebuilding phase with a very inexperienced side of mostly young players, who are still getting to grips with international rugby.

Kolisi has been through a difficult phase with the Boks himself, before the Rassie Erasmus renaissance, and he had some advice for the team and fans.

“It is tough in periods like this. But they have a great leader in Dewi (Lake) and coach Warren Gatland is pushing hard for the boys. But you also have to face up to reality,” explained Kolisi.

“One or two of our (backline) players had more caps than their entire backline. They are a young team and they are going to keep growing. I am so proud of the Welsh fans, they are still turning out and supporting their boys.

“They are working so hard to turn things around and I have no doubt that things will change for them. They are just like us, hard working and a proud rugby nation and I have no doubt that they will turn it around.

“The world needs a strong Welsh rugby union. Next year they will be more experienced than they were this year, so it will take time.”