The selfless example in ‘remarkable Springboks win’ that highlighted to two England greats the ‘incredible tightness’ of Siya Kolisi’s ‘power’ team
Siyi Kolisi grabs the badge following a South African win that left England pair Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, inset, gobsmacked
England greats Ben Youngs and Dan Cole have spoken about being blown away by the behaviour of Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi on Saturday night in Paris.
The legendary South African was subbed off at half-time at the Stade de France after a tactical rejig was implemented following the red card brandished to Lood de Jager for his shoulder-to-head collision with Thomas Ramos.
Referee Angus Gardner had no hesitation after reviewing the footage in punishing the South African lock with a full red card just before the interval.
What followed was the unleashing of a plan to combat France’s numerical advantage by sacrificing Kolisi and replacing him with second-row sub Ruan Nortje, even though the Autumn Nations Series match was the 100th Test milestone in the skipper’s stellar career.
“Shows to me the depth of leadership they have…”
The tactic worked a treat as the Springboks dug in during the early part of the second half, limiting the French to just three points. With just a 13-17 deficit to make up in the final quarter of the match, Rassie Erasmus’ team accelerated down the finishing straight.
Two tries were scored after French winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey had been yellow-carded, and a third followed just before the finish to see out what Youngs, the most capped England men’s player, described as a “remarkable” 32-17 win.
What especially grabbed the attention of Youngs and fellow Test centurions Coles was how Kolisi reacted to his substitution.
The pair commented on their For The Love Of Rugby podcast that most players would have been gutted at getting replaced so early and would have sulked, but Kolisi was instead on his feet on the sideline, cheering and roaring with encouragement during the second half – a selfless act that the English duo said so much about the tightness of the Springboks squad.
Addressing the Kolisi substitution, Youngs began: “Do you know what stood out for me was after the red card incident and off he [De Jager] goes and South Africa have to tinker their team?
“Siya Kolisi, 100 caps, amazing, congratulations, what an incredible icon for rugby; he comes off, but doesn’t it show the leadership qualities within that South African team!
“You have taken off your iconic captain, two-time World Cup winner, 100th cap, you take him off in a game where it’s hostile. Like the atmosphere was going off, like it was loud, it was everything you want it to be when you play in France.
“You are under pressure, everything is against you and you take your biggest leader, iconic sort of talisman, off and yet they still find a way. That shows to me the depth of leadership they have, how much experience they have in that squad and how much trust they have.
“That stood out for me a lot because the atmosphere is going off, you are up against it, you are away in France, you have so much hype around it, you have got a red card, he [Kolisi] is on his 100th cap, you take him off and they still have the qualities and the nous, ‘this is what needs to be done to win this game’ and they get it done without him even on the field.”
Cole replied: “And also about Kolisi, the fact that he was on the sideline on his feet, screaming, shouting, cheering the team on. You have seen in these situations that the easy thing is to sit on the bench and sulk, but his quality of leadership, and even (Eben) Etzebeth when he comes off the field, all those guys are fully invested in the side.
“They are screaming the team on and it shows the tightness of that group. From the outside, it looks like that group is incredibly tight; everyone knows what they are doing, and they are incredibly invested in winning and that ultimately is not about the individual, it’s about winning as a group. That shows the power of that Springboks team.”
‘We’ve learnt to accept decisions’ – Rassie Erasmus’ verdict on Lood de Jager’s red card
Back to Youngs. “They were trying to bring the energy in any way they could, and they absolutely did. When you think about that, there is your captain still leading whilst being on the sidelines. Still standing, still being so vocal.
“The camera panned to him at one point and he was shouting at Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) and he was telling him to ‘let’s go’, to keep putting the pressure, whatever he was shouting but you could see he was still leading whilst not being on the pitch, and I am not sure everyone would do that. In fact, I know not everyone would do that.”
Cole beamed: “It’s a reflection on him, it’s a reflection on the South African team. He comes off at half-time. He can be gutted coming off as you want to be on the field but at the same time, you are fully invested in the ‘I’m coming off, it’s best for the team’.
“That is a tough thing to do as an individual, as you want to be out there helping your teammates, but the fact was he didn’t sit there sulking but was actually cheering the team on, fully invested as all the Springboks are.
“When you saw that maul (Andre) Esterhuizen try, like the whole Springboks sideline erupted, the coaches were all jumping on each other hugging – you could see how much this game meant to them.
“To me, it looked more than just winning a game against France. They were invested in how much this game meant to them, how it had been built up to them, the French had been all talking during the week about having the (World Cup 2023) game taken away from them, all that kind of stuff. The South African team fully invested in that, and it just reinforced how good they are and reinforced the belief they have in their own team.”
Youngs concluded: “It looked personal. It really looked personal because of ’23 and France saying that they felt it was their World Cup to win and everything like that. It also looked personal because of Siya Kolisi’s 100th cap. There was no way that team was not going to go and win it for him. Remarkable, remarkable win.”
