South African rugby captain, Siya Kolisi, says his side is ready to face Wales in the second World Cup semi-final in Yokohama, Japan on Sunday.
The winner of the match will meet England in next weekend’s final.
Sunday’s match kicks off at 11 o’clock South African time.
England recorded a stunning 19-7 upset over defending champions, New Zealand in the first semi-final played on Saturday.
Kolisi says Wales will be a tough opposition, “We know what we need to do. And they also know how to do a rush defence so they will know how to handle it when it comes their way. But honestly, we haven’t changed much. We’re gonna do what you’ve seeing the last couple of weeks. The most important thing is to make sure that you do it better than the previous week.”
Kolisi added that handling the pressure will be nothing new to the South Africans at this year’s World Cup.
“We lost the first game, so we’ve been under pressure from the beginning of the World Cup. We’ve been playing play-off rugby from the beginning. I don’t want to go too much into the game stuff. Our set pieces have gone better as a team. A lot of guys know their roles in the team and they’ve adapted. So, that’s been really huge.”
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured Springbok captain Siya Kolisi that the national rugby team will enjoy the support of all South Africans in their semi-final against Wales.
In a video call to the Springbok captain on Saturday morning, the President said: “I am so proud of you personally and of the team as well.
“You have done extremely well and I wish you well for the semi-final. You have 57 million South Africans behind you.”
![[File Image] : Netherlands' Cody Gakpo looks dejected.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screenshot-12-120x86.png)
