‘It was unreal’: Kolisi delighted with Boks’ thrilling victory

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was fired up after his charges secured a breathtaking 36-20 bonus point win over Argentina in their Rugby Championship clash in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Argentina captain Julian Montoya was however disappointed after his side fought back from a 16-point half-time deficit, to cut it to within two points with 11 minutes left, only to watch as the Boks ran in two late tries to secure a superb victory on the road.

The result puts the Boks second on the Rugby Champs log, equal on 14 points with the All Blacks but behind on points difference, with a thrilling final round in store next weekend.

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“It is an unreal feeling. To come here is very hard. Argentineans are passionate people who take pride in their rugby, so for us to come here and get a bonus point like that was special,” said Kolisi.

“To play in front of a crowd like this was unreal. We could feel the energy they were giving their team (Argentina) while we were playing, so we were trying to be as loud as we could on the side to try encourage our guys.

“So we are really honoured that we could do this (get a bonus point win).”

Kolisi added that he wasn’t happy with the way that they let Argentina back in the match, but was pleased to come away with the win.

“It’s weird, we always do that (make things tough). It was tough for us as a group, and we had to pull together. But most importantly Argentina played really well today and we knew it was going to be a tough battle,” said Kolisi.

“So I want to say ‘muchas gracias’ to every single person in Argentina. It was the first time I was able to be here for two weeks and actually enjoy it. I was able to go to Villa 31 which was an eye opening experience for me, as it was the same background that I came from, so to see that was very special.”

Opportunity missed

For Montoya it was a missed opportunity for his side, with him singling out their first-half performance being where they lost the game.

“First of all let me say thank you to all the people that came to see us. There were 32000 people here and they were really loud, so I am really proud to wear this jersey and be Argentinean,” said Montoya.

“In the first half we didn’t play at the level that we wanted in terms of defence and discipline. Two yellow cards is too much advantage against a team like South Africa.

“In the second half our attitude was much better and we kept going but it wasn’t enough. We need to learn from this and at this level we need to play for 80 minutes. If you can’t play for 80 minutes you’re not going to win against the World Champions.”