Kolisi: Springboks will not hold back against All Blacks
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says they certainly won’t be viewing Friday’s clash against the All Blacks as a ‘friendly’.
The Springboks’ ‘matchday’ preparations for the Rugby World Cup will conclude with warm-up match against New Zealand at a sold-out Twickenham on Friday evening.
Although some have questioned whether such a fixture between two arch-rivals is a good idea so close to the World Cup, both teams have described it as the perfect preparation for the international spectacle in France.
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Looking ahead to Friday’s encounter, Kolisi reiterated that while it may be their last warm-up game, the Boks would give everything as they looked to finetune their game before the World Cup.
“The fact that the All Blacks selected a full-strength side for the match shows their intent,” said Kolisi.
“This is not a friendly. In fact, we’ve never had a friendly against them. It’s going to a big physical battle, and we are excited about it.”
The 2019 Rugby RWC-winning skipper added: “We will not hold back at all. There are 80 000 people coming to the match and we owe it to them to give our all. There are also not many opportunities such as this to face the All Blacks in the northern hemisphere, so it’s going to be a special game.
“It’s also our last match before the Rugby World Cup, so we want to make the most of the occasion. Hopefully it will be an ugly, tough game, but beautiful at the same time.”
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KOLISI HAS QUICKLY RETURNED TO FORM AND FITNESS
On a personal note, Kolisi was pleased with the progress he was making after a strong return last weekend from a serious knee injury, and said he was ready to step things up a gear on Friday.
“I felt good this week, and going into the match I’ll give as much as I can again, and see for how long I can go,” said Kolisi. “Everything I wondered about I experienced last week, so I am certainly feeling more confident and I’m not going to hold back.”
The Springboks’ next assignment after this Test will be to defend their RWC title in France, where they will line up against Scotland (10 September), Romania (17 September), Ireland (23 September) and Tonga (1 October) in the pool stages.
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