The mental battle proved tougher than the physical one for Springbok captain Siya Kolisi as he recovered from a hamstring strain that ruled him out of the opening Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against the All Blacks.
Physically, his recovery was progressing well, and he did not rush himself in a bid to return for the clash at Ellis Park. Mentally, however, he had to remain switched on as he worked towards being ready for the second Test in Cape Town on Saturday (5.10pm kick-off).
Kolisi will lead the world champions in the must-win clash at DHL Stadium, taking over the captaincy from Pieter-Steph du Toit, who will be running out in his 100th Test match.
The Bok skipper said on Friday that the support around him had made the recovery all the easier.
“I think people always think it’s the injury itself that is tough to overcome, but you always know you’re going to heal,” he said.
“But I think it’s more the mental one (recovery). You don’t know which game you’re going to be back in the side. But I have good support around me, you know, with the coaching staff, I think my teammates too, and obviously our medical team has been really good. However, I’m really happy to be back and being able to play in this game.”
According to Kolisi, it’s a crucial game for them in the four-Test series as they look to make up for last Saturday’s 33-16 loss at Ellis Park. The Springboks controlled the better part of the first Test, but could not convert important opportunities, especially following some monster scrums.
However, the Boks have been in this backs-against-the-wall position before during their Rugby World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023 and the British & Irish Lions series, and they’ve shown that they can fight under pressure.
Kolisi added that it was only Test one of four, but it will be important to get the win on Saturday.
“We’ve all been in this position before, not just me, and we know how to handle the situation, off the field as well. What’s most important is actually on the field itself. We need to go and play and execute like coach (Rassie Erasmus) said. When we watched the game after the first Test, we watched it as rugby players with the coaching staff.
“It was a big scoreline, but we looked at what we missed, all the opportunities. If we had converted those, maybe things would have been different. We’re lucky to have the experience (of playing in tough matches), but experience means nothing if you don’t learn from the mistakes that you made the week before.
“If we create as many opportunities as we did last week, we must seize more than what we don’t. That is the biggest factor for me from last week. The All Blacks didn’t have many, but they took them when it was there.
“And I think that’s the important thing. The amount of dominance we had in the first half, and we had nothing to really show for it. (Fixing that) is the most important thing. It’s a new game.”
