We did not deserve to lose to the All Blacks‚ says Bok captain Siya Kolisi

08 October 2018 - 11:28 By Mahlatse Mphahlele
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Springboks captain Siya Kolisi (R) pulls away from a tackle as his New Zealand counterpart charges in during the Rugby Championship match between South Africa and the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on October 06, 2018.
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi (R) pulls away from a tackle as his New Zealand counterpart charges in during the Rugby Championship match between South Africa and the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on October 06, 2018.
Image: Gordon Arons

Visibly disappointed Springboks captain Siya Kolisi says they did not deserve to lose to the All Blacks after they dominated the world champions for the better part of 72 minutes before going down in a last-gasp defeat in front of a packed Loftus on Saturday.

The Boks had a 12 point lead in the last eight minutes of the match but they lowered their guard and allowed the Rugby Championship champions to sneak through the back door with two late tries from Scott Barrett and Ardie Savea.

Kolisi admitted that they were ruthlessly punished after a loss of concentration in the last ten minutes.

“Things went very well for us in the 70 minutes where we did a lot of things that we wanted to do‚” said Kolisi.

“In the last ten minutes‚ there were a lot of soft moments on our part and they capitalised on those moments.

"I don’t think we deserve to lose this game but they took their opportunities when they presented themselves and they were alert.

“Obviously‚ we must work on those things going forward.

New Zealand players celebrate after winning their penultimate Rugby Championship match against Argentina to clinch the title on Saturday 1 October 2017.
New Zealand players celebrate after winning their penultimate Rugby Championship match against Argentina to clinch the title on Saturday 1 October 2017.
Image: All Blacks via Twitter

"We have been working very hard to win back the respect of the fans and we know that we are not where we want to be at the moment.

"It is a tough feeling because we have worked hard over the past five months.

"No one ever gives credit to some of my teammates who help me with the leadership role so that I don’t put too much pressure on myself.

"It is never good to lose in the Boks jersey‚ we are frustrated because we wanted to win this match but we will take the positives out of it.”

Kolisi is one of the Boks players who played the entire match and he was impressive together with the likes of Handre Pollard‚ Franco Mostert‚ Jesse Kriel‚ Malcolm Marx‚ Eben Etzebeth and Damian de Allende.

Victory could have seen the Springboks register their first back-to-back win over their old foes since 2009 where they beat them in Durban and in Hamilton under former coach Pieter de Villiers.

It would have been a first win over New Zealand at Loftus since 2009.


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