War talk emerges from Bok camp

Some fighting talk emerged from the Springbok camp ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium.

Star wing Cheslin Kolbe expects both teams to come out guns blazing as the Springboks and the All Blacks write a new chapter in their storied history.

The Springboks have had the upper hand in recent clashes, winning the last three and giving them five wins in the last seven against their long-time rivals.

“We know when it comes to SA and New Zealand, it’s always a war out there,” said Kolbe further ramping up expectations ahead of the sold out fixture.

“This weekend will be no different. They are going to come out firing,” said Kolbe referencing the All Blacks' recent struggles under a new coaching regime.

The All Blacks lost two of their three Rugby Championship clashes thus far and another will deny them the trophy they’ve held since 2020.

Kolbe insists, however, the Boks are focusing on themselves. “For us, we just need to make sure we prepare as well as we can and put ourselves in positions where we think they might try out a couple of things. It is just about staying on task and trying not to think too much about it. We’ve trained hard, so hopefully that pays off on Saturday.”

He warned, though, the All Blacks — especially when they are with their backs to the wall — remain a dangerous team. “They have a good skill set all around the park, and they put a big emphasis on a fast start, so it will be a big drive for us to start the match fast as well,” said Kolbe.

“They almost caught us out [last week], but luckily, we managed to pull it through. So we need to lay a good foundation in the first 20 minutes.”

The Boks, however, finished strongly, thanks to the efforts of their Bomb Squad, who helped decisively swing the match in their favour. “In the past, we also struggled to come back and finish games strongly against them, and last week showed the character of the group and the players’ willingness not to give up,” said the wing.

“We certainly don’t want any regrets, so we must make sure we do the basics well and execute our game plan well. Last week gave us confidence, but now we have to build on that.”

The Boks will, however, go into the match with concerns over their inability to maintain continuity in successive matches against the same opposition.

To seamlessly deliver quality performances when personnel is changed from one week to the next, is easier said than done, but despite the Boks at times dropping their standards, they’ve retained the ability to win matches. They’ve lost just twice in their last 18 matches and it is against that backdrop that coach Rassie Erasmus has stressed the need to build squad depth. Young players come into an environment populated by winners.

In the first year of a fresh Rugby World Cup build-up cycle, that ambition burns particularly bright.

Unavoidably perhaps, at times their performances take a dip. “For us, we’ve struggled in the past when we’ve had two consecutive games against the same team,” said Kolbe.

“Ireland earlier and then Australia, which we handled quite well. We’re trying to improve and get that consistency, when we do play the same team twice. It depends on the team and the players, how well we’ve focused throughout the week.”

Last month, SA made nine changes and a positional switch for the second of their two Tests against the Wallabies in Australia. They were less polished in the driving rain in the follow up game in Perth, but they still got a comfortable win.

Erasmus will name his team for Saturday’s game on Thursday.