CAPE TOWN – “Today is everything.”
That is how Springbok captain Siya Kolisi sees their Series-decider against the British & Irish Lions.
The Boks have everything to play for after levelling the Series with a superb 27-9 victory at Cape Town Stadium last week, and during a media briefing yesterday, Kolisi explained that they’re seeing this Test as a “final” and not simply part of their preparation for the Rugby Championship. The Boks face Argentina in their Championship-opener in Port Elizabeth next weekend.
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“This is a final for us,” Kolisi said when he was asked whether they are also viewing the game as such after Lions coach Warren Gatland this week said the decisive Test is a final for the tourists.
“That’s been the talk in our team this week. Tomorrow (Saturday) is everything, we are not even thinking about next week. We will be foolish to see this game as preparation for next week because this comes around only once for most players.
“It is similar to a World Cup final, but I think at the same time it is different because for a lot of us this opportunity won’t come again. We’ve done as much preparation as we could and we trained as hard as we could. We worked on stuff that we felt we could have done better last week. We are in a unique position and we are very excited for [Saturday].”
Given everything that went down ahead of the second Test, tempers were naturally high when the world champions faced the Lions last weekend.
Asked if he’s expecting a similar vibe in the third Test and how they will respond, Kolisi said: “We play what’s in front of us, so whatever happens in the game, we’re going to get involved. If there is niggly play, we’re going to get involved.
The Boks are going into the massive Test without the influential Pieter-Steph du Toit and Faf de Klerk, with Franco Mostert moving from lock to blindside flank in a positional switch.
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While those injuries to key players certainly is disruptive, they aren’t focused on things they have no control over.
“The biggest thing in our team is to control the controllables. We have no control over injuries. We of course feel sorry for the guys who are injured. Franco’s work date is second to none.”
“It (the situation due to Covid and how it impacted preparation) has been unique for both teams, I think everything we went through they went through, too. I’m excited for tomorrow, I’m excited to finish strong. It’s an honour for me. It would have been great to have crowds, but it’s still going to be special. We don’t have fans (at the stadium), it is what it is. We need to focus on what we can control.”
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The match kicks off at 6pm.
Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Lukhanyo Am 12 Damian de Allende 11 Makazole Mapimpi10 Handré Pollard 9 Cobus Reinach 8 Jasper Wiese 7 Franco Mostert6 Siya Kolisi 5 Lood de Jager 4 Eben Etzebeth3 Frans Malherbe2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx 17 Trevor Nyakane18 Vincent Koch 19 Marco van Staden 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Herschel Jantjies 22 Morné Steyn 23 Damian Willemse
British and Irish Lions: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (Captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Elliot Daly
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