Siya Kolisi ‘was finished’ in record All Blacks victory as Springboks captain points to ‘trust’ in the squad
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi and an inset of Kwagga Smith against the All Blacks in Wellington.
Siya Kolisi has brushed off criticism of not playing full matches for the Springboks, saying he trusts those who replace him.
The Boks skipper has had his injury struggles this year, which saw him miss the opening matches of the international season against the Barbarians and Italy before returning against Georgia.
While he featured in the Rugby Championship opener against Australia, he missed the rematch with the Wallabies in Cape Town a week later.
He returned in time to feature in the clash at Eden Park against the All Blacks, despite initially missing out on selection, which resulted in him relinquishing the captaincy to Jesse Kriel.
However, he did lead the Springboks in their historic victory over New Zealand in Wellington as South Africa handed the All Blacks their heaviest-ever defeat, running in six tries to one, thrashing the hosts 43-10.
Leaving the pitch early against All Blacks
The flanker enjoyed a stunning outing at Sky Stadium, which included a brilliant break in the build-up to a try while he dominated the gain-line.
While he was in fine form in Wellington, head coach Rassie Erasmus opted to replace Kolisi just before the hour mark, with Kwagga Smith entering proceedings and taking over from the captain. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for Kolisi to leave the pitch before the final quarter of the match, with the Boks often replacing their captain in the second half, which has resulted in plenty of criticism for the 35-year-old.
South Africa have benefitted immensely from the ‘Bomb Squad’ tactics since 2019, which has often seen Kolisi depart proceedings, but against the All Blacks, Erasmus selected a 5-3 split with the captain being the only starting loose forward not to go the distance.
While he has copped plenty of criticism for not going the full 80, Kolisi is not bothered and says that every player has belief and trust in their teammates, even those who play in the same position.
“I was finished by that time,” Kolisi told reporters after the match when asked if he wanted to stay on the pitch longer.
“Most people will say, ‘Oh, why is Siya going off?’ But I’m not worried when I go off because I know when Kwagga comes in, he brings something different to me, that’s the trust and the belief we have in the squad.”
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The decision to replace Kolisi with Smith paid off for the Boks as the latter latched onto an offload from Pieter-Steph du Toit after a pinpoint cross-kick by Manie Libbok and raced over to score for South Africa.
That try put South Africa in a commanding 29-10 lead with RG Snyman and Andre Esterhuizen adding the icing on the cake for the Boks.
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Looking ahead
Despite the comprehensive victory, Erasmus stated that there is still much to play for and that his charges haven’t accomplished anything yet.
“We’ve achieved nothing,” he said.
“We are in the mix for the Rugby Championship, and now Australia and New Zealand must sort each other while we take on an energetic, well-drilled Argentina outfit in the next few weeks.
“We are doing better; we made a few errors in the first 30 minutes, the message to the players has been ‘Express yourself, don’t become like a robot, we don’t pick you to just do a job in a mechanical team’.”
The Boks have since touched down back home ahead of their clash with Los Pumas in Durban before completing their campaign in Twickenham against the same opposition. Meanwhile, the All Blacks will look to continue their domination of the Bledisloe Cup as they face off against Australia in back-to-back Tests, the first of which at Eden Park.
