‘The win is important,’ says Siya Kolisi ahead of second Irish Test

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says getting a win to seal the series two-nil in the second Test against Ireland at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening (kick-off 5pm), is extremely important for the team.

It is a huge encounter between the World Champions and Six Nations Champions, the top two ranked teams on the World Rugby rankings and between teams that have been building what could turn out to be a massive rivalry in the coming years.

The Boks broke a three game losing streak against the Irish at Loftus last weekend and they want to build on that momentum with a second straight win.

“We definitely want to win tomorrow (Saturday). We are not entering this match with the view that we are one up in the series. It’s a new game, so for us it is 0-0, and it is important for the team to come away with a victory,” said Kolisi.

“We’ve been working hard as a group, and we know how important this match is for both teams. We have no doubt that they’ll come even harder at us than last week because this is their last game of the season, and they want to finish it on a high note.”

Opening match

In the opening match in Pretoria both teams made a number of mistakes throughout the game, which swung the momentum back and forth, with it not as much of a spectacle as the incredibly tight World Cup pool clash between the two last year.

Kolisi believes that Saturday’s match will be similar to the encounter at the World Cup, with it being huge in terms of winning or drawing the series.

“The game (at Loftus) had its moments. I think the momentum swung both ways. Whereas in the World Cup the game went flat out for the full 80 minutes. You almost scored a try and then were suddenly defending your own tryline. It was like that,” explained Kolisi.

“But those things happen in a game and it is all about who can control those big moments (better), and who can take their opportunities. We started off well (in Pretoria) and then they came back at us later in the game.

“But I think this weekend’s game will be intense for the entire 80 minutes. Because we are playing to win the series while they are playing to draw it. So I think from the word go it’s going to be intense and whoever takes their opportunities best will come out on top.”

This could also be the last game for the majority of the Bok match 23 for the next month, as they will likely only be back in action against Australia at the start of the Rugby Championship Down Under.

Fringe 23

A largely fringe match 23 featuring a few experienced players returning from injury, are expected to be in action against Portugal next weekend, while the main guys get a bit of time off.

The Boks will thus want to pick up a win to take some good momentum into the Rugby Championship, although Kolisi claims they aren’t looking ahead and are only focused on Ireland.

“We are just thinking about tomorrow (Saturday) for us as a group. We just want to make sure that we use our opportunities because you never know what is going to happen after that,” said Kolisi.

“So we want to use this opportunity to give everything that we can. We have worked hard to be where are now and we don’t want to let this slip by focusing on what comes after. This is the most important game for us at this point.

“We know how important it is to them as well. It is going to be a proper Test match. If they came out (hard) last week, they are going to come out even harder this time.

“It is their last game of the season, they are going on holiday after this. They are going to throw everything at us, and those are the things that we have been thinking about. We haven’t though about what is going to happen after this.”