Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said South Africa will not worry about New Zealand’s result against Scotland on Saturday. He said the team’s only focus is beating Italy in Turin on the same day.
The Springboks and the All Blacks are racing to finish top of the Southern Hemisphere standings. This is the first year of the new Nations Championship.
“There’s nothing we can do to control what New Zealand does in their games. All we have control over is what we do as a team,” Kolisi said, according to IOL Sport.
New Zealand play Scotland in Edinburgh. Their result will affect where South Africa sit in the standings. Bonus points and points difference could decide which team finishes first.
Kolisi said the first job is to win the match at the Allianz Stadium. Only then will the team think about extra points.
“First of all, it’s get the win. If we get the lead in the game and we can go for a bonus point, then there,” he said.
“You can’t be thinking about bonus points before even getting a win. You take the game as it goes and you’ve got to respect each team,” Kolisi said.
He said Italy would be hard to beat on their own ground. “We’re playing in Italy at their home and we know how tough it was for us last year against them,” he said.
Kolisi also rejected the idea that the players would struggle to get going again. The team has come through the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series and a long season.
He has been part of the Springbok setup for more than 13 years. He said the players were used to the physical and mental demands of Test rugby.
Kolisi said the time apart made the players keen to be back together.
“Two weeks after we got home from the Australia match in Perth, the guys started messaging each other because we missed each other,” he said.
“It’s never hard for us to get up for a game. We’re excited to finish strong, and this is a new competition, so that’s something to be excited about,” Kolisi said.
He said the squad had been training together since the week before the match. Some players had already been in camp.
“We’ve got no time to be thinking about how we’re feeling or how our bodies are doing. We’ve trained since last week; some guys were here, we’re well prepared and we’re excited. We can’t wait for this weekend’s game,” he said.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Sport. Image: IOL Sport. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Sports desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Tiyani Mathebula writes about sport for Tzaneen Voice. Tiyani covers Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and the PSL, along with athletics, tennis and local club sport. Match reports and previews focus on results, team news, fixtures and what each game means for South African teams and fans.