Durban — “This was for our supporters back at home.” Those were the words of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi straight after his team had thrashed England 27-13 at Twickenham, ending an eight-year drought at the home of rugby.
“We have been working hard over the last month and some results did not go our way, but we stayed true to ourselves and we are grateful for the support from home and this win is for all the fans who sent us messages of support.”
That’s it, the #Springboks finish 2022 with a superb win at Twickenham, their first at the home of England rugby since 2014 🙌 #StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #ENGvRSA #CastleOutgoingTour pic.twitter.com/wKG8YWEN7I
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 26, 2022
Kolisi said England was as tough as ever at the start of the game and needed to be broken down.
“It was very tight but we stuck to our guns and just tweaked a few things on the attack. We had said that on this tour we would risk it all to get answers about how to develop our game and the result is we are seeing a lot more opportunities than in the past.”
A player who is certainly cashing in on those opportunities is blistering winger Kurt-Lee Arendse, who scored a sensational try.
“We are very grateful to have him,” Kolisi smiled. “That is the thing about our team — we are all different and unique but we first work hard for each other and then the different things we offer come to the fore, things that Damian Willemse and Kurt-Lee do so well.”
Kolisi said the four-match tour had been great preparation for next year’s World Cup.
“We certainly feel we can defend our title. We have tried a few new things and there is a lot more we can do. There are so many challenges we have overcome this year and I don’t think there is anything new that can shake us next year.
IOL Sport