Important win to start the Rugby Championship, says Springbok captain Siya Kolisi

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was thrilled with the effort of his team as they kicked off their Rugby Championship campaign with a bonus point 33-7 win over the Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

Australia has been an unhappy hunting ground for the Boks in recent times with the world champions having only one once while losing 11 times in Brisbane before Saturday, so the result will be especially pleasing in trying to banish some demons.

An early arrival in the country last week was key to their success on Saturday, according to Kolisi, as the Boks looked extremely sharp from the get go and eventually walked away with a very comfortable win.

“Arriving here (in Australia) early helped us a lot. We adapted to the time zone (well), and the training and the focus was perfect. We said as a group it was important for us to win this game and we did that,” said Kolisi after the match.

“The Australian rugby team is amazing and we prepared and gave them the respect they deserved. They threw everything at us, so I am proud of what the boys did.

“We just stuck to what we planned in the week. We are also a developing team, we have some new coaches, with coach Tony (Brown) on attack trying to change the way we play.”

Stiffer challenge

Looking ahead, Kolisi said he was expecting a stiffer challenge from the hosts in the second game in Perth next weekend, but he added he was pleased with the hunger shown from his side early in the competition.

“Australia is also in a rebuilding phase like we were in 2018. We know coach Joe Schmidt will definitely get the boys back up to play next week,” said Kolisi.

“But for us it was just the hunger and desperation of wanting to do well (in the Rugby Championship). We know these two matches (in Australia) won’t win us the Championship, but they can lose it for us.”

‘Credit to SA’

Wallabies captain Allan Alaalatoa had mixed feelings after the match, with him happy with the effort shown from his side, but frustrated with their indiscipline and accuracy.

“You have to give credit to South Africa. They are a very experienced side and they showed that. They put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t have the ball for most of the first half, mostly through our indiscipline,” explained Alaalatoa.

“We gave them three tries in the first half (which was crucial). So it is a tough learning for our group. We have to regather now and go again in Perth next week.

“We have to be more accurate, we are a new group that is building and you can feel the effort is there. But it’s the accuracy that we have to sharpen up on.”