Durban — Siya Kolisi has achieved more on the international rugby field than most, but the one box he has never ticked is to win at Twickenham against old foe England.
He has defeated the Red Rose army on the biggest stage of all — a World Cup final — and beaten them in Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, but never on their home turf and he says that on Saturday evening the Boks will move heaven and earth to change this.
“I have never won at Twickenham, and neither have many of the guys and we are ready for this game,” Kolisi warned Owen Farrell’s England.
Farrell and Eddie Jones, the wily coach, don’t need to be told that when the Boks get in the mood for a fight, they not only win but demolish opponents, and I suspect they are in this kind of mood as they look to put a full stop on a season that has been turbulent at times on the field but mostly off it.
There was an inkling of the menacing mood that is building in the Bok camp at the team announcement on Tuesday, when coach Jacques Nienaber basically said that the suspension of Rassie Erasmus had pulled the Boks ever tighter together.
“We are a tight-knit group... the players, the coaching staff, and the management,” Nienaber said, dispelling any notion that the group has been fractured by the Rassie saga, and I bet Jones took note of that comment because when the Boks pull themselves into their laager, all hell breaks loose for the opposition.
Ask Australia when they were annihilated in Sydney earlier this year after the “gatvol” Boks responded to their meek defeat in Adelaide the week before, or the All Blacks in Nelspruit after the Boks had been criticised for their lukewarm series against Wales.
“The result tomorrow is very important, we want to finish a difficult year on the right note, and we also want to take momentum into the new year,” Kolisi said.
“And this is a fitting fixture to finish the year,” the captain continued. “The rivalry between us and England goes way back, and when you see this game on the calendar you get excited — what a stadium, what an atmosphere, and there is never a dull moment.
“Both teams will give it all in a packed stadium and we are ready for action — it is so difficult to win here, you saw that with the All Blacks drawing last week when it seemed the game had been won, and we are going to give it our very best shot.”
The Boks lost five members of the squad that smashed Italy because of the closing of the international window, but Kolsis said this was water off a duck’s back.
“We are South Africans, we deal with challenges all the time. You arrange a party and then there is load shedding,” he joked. “Seriously, on the field, there is nothing we have not had to deal with this year. This has been a year of getting answers, be it our style of play, the depth in our squad, how to deal with different opposition or even finding new kickers when our main kickers were out.
“As I say, we are ready for this game...”
Kick-off: 7.30pm (SA time)
Springbok team: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Damian Willemse 9 Faf de Klerk 8 Evan Roos 7 Franco Mostert 6 Siya Kolisi (capt) 5 Marvin Orie 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Frans Malherbe 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Thomas du Toit, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Jaden Hendrikse, Mabnie Libbok, Canan Moodie.
England team: 15 Freddie Steward 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Manu Tuilagi 12 Owen Farrell (captain) 11 Jonny May 10 Marcus Smith 9 Jack van Poortvliet 8 Billy Vunipola 7 Tom Curry 6 Alex Coles 5 Jonny Hill 4 Maro Itoje 3 Kyle Sinckler 2 Jamie George 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie 17 Ellis Genge 18 Will Stuart 19 David Ribbans 20 Sam Simmonds 21 Ben Youngs 22 Henry Slade 23 Jack Nowell.
IOL Sport