Springboks captain Siya Kolisi believes the hotly contested Rugby Championship is “brilliant for rugby” after his side secured a positive 24-8 win over the Wallabies on Saturday.
The South Africans showed better intent on attack and subsequently created more opportunities against Australia in Sydney than they had done just a week before.
Title up for grabs
In New Zealand, the All Blacks claimed a dominant 53-3 win over Argentina, meaning that only one point separates the top and bottom of the Rugby Championship after Round Four, with all teams having won two and lost two.
Kolisi says his team, like every other, is striving for consistency, but the southern hemisphere’s showpiece competition has been uniquely wide open in 2022.
“The thing is everybody wants consistency. We want to stay near the top the whole time but it’s hard,” said Kolisi.
“Some teams perform one week and some teams don’t perform. That’s what I think all the nations are looking for, that consistency every week.
“You can see now what’s happening, every single team is standing up and I think it’s brilliant for rugby because you never know which team is going to win on the day.”
The Boks skipper claimed that his side taking their opportunities was the critical difference between this week and last week against the Wallabies.
“Last week there was nothing different to our performance or our game plan, we took the opportunities that we created today and that’s what we want to do each and every single time,” said Kolisi.
“It will make our job so much easier, not to have to fight back the whole time.
“The fact that we could create those opportunities is encouraging, and the fact we could finish today was really good for us as a team, and it’s a good reminder that we can do it going forward.
“We must just keep on doing them, that’s all we want. Just being consistent and taking the opportunities when we create them.”
Fans stuck by the team
The 31-year-old thanked the Springbok fans for staying behind the team after a tough loss in Adelaide and was delighted to bounce back with a win – their first in Australia for nine years.
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“I would like to thank the people back home for backing us,” said Kolisi.
“It has been a tough week for us a team, and we understand that our fans were hurting too, so I’d like to thank them for sticking with us.
“We are grateful to the supporters back home and in Australia. We really wanted to stay in the Rugby Championship race, and it has been a long nine years since we last won here.
“The coaching staff had a plan and a certain game plan they wanted us to play because they wanted us to win. But the biggest change was the belief that we could do it.”
The world champions now shift their attention to two Tests against Argentina, and the captain is under no illusions about the challenge ahead.
“They are going to be tough, so we know we have two challenging games ahead. We’ll enjoy tonight and then and then turn our focus to those clashes in the week,” he said.