Having fought back from injury again, Siya Kolisi has addressed his mindset and readiness to lead the Springboks into Saturday’s clash against the All Blacks, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.
Kolisi was addressing reporters on Friday, in the lead-up to the Cape Town Stadium duel as the world champions look to level the four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 1-1.
The 35-year-old, who has played two matches and 70 minutes for the Boks in 2026 due to hamstring issues, had been battling a niggle serious enough for Pieter-Steph du Toit to be named as stand-in captain this week, with flanker Paul de Villiers waiting in the wings had he not been passed fit.
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Asked whether the setbacks had him thinking about how much rugby he has left, the two-time World Cup winner joked: “I’m still young, Brannas [Deon Fourie] is older than me!
“No, honestly, I don’t think like that at all, especially with the captaincy. I want to be in the team and I want to play. As long as God still allows me and I can recover from an injury.
“I think the injury itself is never the problem. It’s just all in your mind. The battles that you have to fight, that’s the hard part.
“You can sit there and think about those things: ‘Am I going to get the opportunity again?’
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“But I look at guys like Pietie [Du Toit],” he added. “He’s had an ACL twice. His leg was almost [amputated]. I remember sitting with him in the hospital, and tomorrow he’ll run out for his 100th Test. You draw strength from that.
“When I did my ACL, I had guys [who had] also done their ACL … Those kinds of conversations, when you have those dark moments and you have a guy next to you who says, ‘Hey, you’ll get through’.
“But thinking about this being the last, I don’t put that in my head at all. I feel good physically. And also, if it is the last, it is the last.”
On his recovery and the squad rotation policy that has shaped this Bok era, Kolisi was equally upbeat.
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“I’m feeling strong, and our medical team has been really good. I’m happy to be back and being able to play this game,” Kolisi said.
“When a team is selected, the public might say, ‘Oh, this one is convenient and this one shouldn’t [be selected]’. We’re not in that mindset. We’re sticking to our own reality, and I think that’s helped us a lot.
“It’s difficult because you want to play every game, but you have to surrender your own dreams and goals and put them aside, because we’re not only playing for each other, but we’re playing for the whole of South Africa.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
The post Siya: If it’s my last Test, it is the last appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Having fought back from injury again, Siya Kolisi has addressed his mindset and readiness to lead the Springboks into Saturday’s clash against the All Blacks.
The post Siya: If it’s my last Test, it is the last appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
