Wallabies will be toughest Test so far, warns Kolisi
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said on Friday their Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies at Ellis Park on Saturday would be their toughest Test so far this season.
Australia have never defeated the Springboks at Ellis Park.
Kolisi expect Australia to throw everything at them and said it would be remiss to underestimate the importance of these two matches and look ahead to their tour to New Zealand, where they will face the All Blacks in Auckland and Wellington.
“The talk in our camp has solely been on Australia,” said Kolisi. “We saw how they played against the British & Irish Lions, and we’ve been in the position they are now in the past, so it would be foolish to think that they won’t throw everything at us.
“We are certainly not thinking about the New Zealand matches now.”
Kolisi shrugged off the favourites tag going into the encounter: “We don’t think of such things. For us, it’s all about our standards, and after looking back at our last four matches, we’ve worked hard to ensure that we are at the level we need to be going into this match.”
The Bok skipper, who will earn his 94th Test cap on Saturday, will start his first Test at No 8 this week after usually packing down on the side of the scrum in the No 6 jumper, and he looked forward to the opportunity.
“My role will change slightly in the lineouts and the scrums, but other than that I’ll be fulfilling my usual role,” Kolisi said.
“Playing No 8 at the Hollywoodbets Sharks certainly helped me, although the role here is different. I’m also not the same type of player as Jasper (Wiese) or a former Bok No 8 Duane (Vermeulen) in terms of my size, so I’m going to give what I can offer.”
Kolisi added: “The breakdowns are going to be a big area of the game, so myself, Marco (van Staden) and Pieter-Steph (du Toit) have an important job, although that said, the breakdowns are a team effort.”
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