Kolisi warns 'resilient' Boks are braced for Puma mauling / Photo: Grant Down - AFP
Kolisi warns 'resilient' Boks are braced for Puma mauling
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said Friday that this weekend's clash against Argentina in Durban was "like a semi-final" for the Rugby Championship.
With two matches remaining, all four Southern Hemisphere nations can claim the trophy, as each has two wins.
"It's like playing a semi-final tomorrow (Saturday) because ourselves and Argentina have the opportunity to win the Rugby Championship," said the 96-times capped flanker.
"It's not about the show tomorrow, it's about playing Test match rugby and trying to win the game."
And Kolisi warned they were expecting a battle against the Pumas who have never won the tournament.
"You know how much it means to them," he said.
"I know a lot of the players play overseas and they enjoy going home. Now, they decided to come straight to South Africa. They really want this."
After a difficult start to the tournament, the world champions subjected the All Blacks to their worst defeat 43-10 on their home turf in Wellington two weeks ago.
"It hasn't been an easy year," Kolisi said.
"It's been tough. We've had to dig ourselves out of tough weeks, you know, of losing some by big scores, but we've just shown how resilient we are as a team and those are the positives that we take," he continued of their 38-22 defeat against Australia in their opening match mid-August at Ellis Park.
The Boks are aiming for a Rugby Championship double after their victory last year: "It's like an opportunity to do something we've never done as a group to win the Rugby Championship back-to-back," Kolisi said.
The South Africans will be without prop Ox Nche who was ruled out on Friday by coach Rassie Erasmus with a "minor injury."
M.Marchand--JdCdC
