Kolisi ‘proud’ of Bok effort, but focus already on better 2022

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi admitted that the 2021 season was not the best results-wise for his side and that it is something they are set to focus on a lot more in the coming year.

The last gasp loss to England over the past weekend was the Boks’ fifth of the year, while they picked up eight wins, giving them a win ratio of just under 62%.

Despite the less than ideal win/loss percentage, Kolisi was still proud of the effort and mental toughness shown by the Boks over what has arguably been their most difficult season ever, due to the Covid pandemic.

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“Results-wise, obviously we are not happy where we are. I think this team can achieve so much more and we hold high standards for ourselves,” admitted Kolisi.

“I am proud with how strong this team is mentally, to go through everything that we went through and still be able to pitch up. I don’t think our intensity has slacked off in any way, so I am proud of that.

“But we don’t make excuses, we did everything we could. So in many ways it was a successful year but obviously our sport is all about results and we will make sure that we work hard on that next year.”

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Missing out on the entire 2020 international year due to Covid also played a role in the Boks heading into the 2021 season undercooked, which should not be a problem heading into 2022.

The team will thus be in a much better space come the incoming tour against Wales in July next year and they will know what they need to fix by then.

“We missed out on last year, but now we know where we are and we know where we can improve,” said Kolisi.

“It hurts a lot, the amount of games that we lost by one or two points, it is really tough, but hopefully we come back in seven months and we know what we have to work on and what to fix.”