Springboks ready for ‘more dangerous’ England, says Siya Kolisi

The Springboks are well aware of how dangerous a wounded team can be and captain Siya Kolisi claims his charges are ready for the challenge that England will bring when the two sides collide at Twickenham on Saturday night (kick-off 7:40pm).

England have lost their last four games in a row, stretching back to the mid-year internationals, and all by seven points or less, including going down 22-24 to the All Blacks two weeks ago and 37-42 against the Wallabies over the past weekend.

Kolisi explained that this is a position that the Boks have been in before and that it often makes a side even more dangerous as the players come together.

‘Pull a team together’

“It 100% makes them more dangerous. We have been there too, we know what it’s like (to be on a losing streak). That’s when we are able to turn up,” said Kolisi at the pre-match presser on Friday.

“We did it (a few years ago). We lost twice against Australia and we lost against the All Blacks, and then in the second game (against the All Blacks) we won.

“So those things can sometimes pull a team together. We know what England is going to bring. They are at home at Twickenham, which is very special for them and opposition teams. It is huge, the crowd will get behind them. Also our record here is one we want to rectify.

“We have a lot to play for and we have a lot to fix from last week (against Scotland). We won last week but you could see the players weren’t happy with the way we played. We have high standards, but we have so much we want to rectify and this is an important game for us as a group.”

Six-day turnaround

It has been a short six-day turnaround for the Boks from their win over Scotland on Sunday, and that played a part in coach Rassie Erasmus making 12 changes to the starting team from that game.

However the players have no problem with how the team changes from week to week, with Kolisi admitting that it is something that the players and management have been working towards since 2018.

“When coach Rassie first joined in 2018, he told us his plan with his coaching staff. He had three pillars, winning, transformation and squad depth. So that is what we have been working towards since 2018,” explained Kolisi.

“Sometimes plans change. We plan to play a certain team and then things don’t go well and we have to change things up. On Saturday Wilco Louw will become the 50^th player to play in the Springbok jersey this year alone.

“That is what we are trying to do. Keep winning while building squad depth. Sometimes injuries happen and we want to be able to pull anyone in from the pool. We don’t want to stress.”

Kolisi continued: We know that guys have gotten opportunities (this season). Some of the younger guys have played big games against Australia and New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.

“That’s what you want and what we are working towards as a group. It is tough because the players want to play. We all want to play every single game. But the team is the most important thing.

“We know what the coaching staff is trying to do and everyone buys into it. When you find out that your name isn’t in the team you sulk for a couple of minutes and then become the best you can to help the next guy to prepare.”