Siya Kolisi said the Springboks will “give it everything” to whitewash Ireland following a series-opening win for the world champions in Pretoria.
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe scored a try apiece as the Boks ended a three-match losing streak against the Irish with a 27-20 victory at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
A see-saw contest between the top-ranked teams took a decisive turn on 78 minutes when the hosts were awarded a penalty try to build a 12-point advantage. The rest of the hosts’ points came from the boot of Handre Pollard.
The second and final Test will be played in Durban this week, and speaking post-match at Loftus, Kolisi – who played a key role in Arendse’s score – told SuperSport pundit Jean de Villiers: “You can always get better but I thought the opportunities that I had I did the best that I could.
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“When you put on this jersey with the guys you have around you, you’re always confident.
“The purpose behind this team, what we’re playing for, that’s what is driving us right now. We know it’s not finished, there’s still a lot to do and still another game next week.
“One-one is not going to be good enough for us; we want to make sure we give it everything next week.”
Rassie Erasmus’ troops played their first match in the Republic after defending their World Cup title in France last year.
“The people that are here today, and I know there are many people who would’ve loved to be here and couldn’t afford it … you carried us through the World Cup and we said we did it for you,” Kolisi added.
“Today was so big and so important to us, just to give back and say thank you … we really appreciate it. Please come next week to Durban, we’ll be waiting and we will go again.”
Photo: @Springboks/Twitter
The post Siya: We know it’s not finished appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
