Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says his team is taking nothing for granted as they kick off their Rugby Championship challenge in Mbombela on Saturday against their old foe, the All Blacks.
The Boks are all too aware of the sense of occasion that this fixture elicits, but they have not beaten the All Blacks at home in eight years.
They need to focus on starting the tournament as they intend to continue.
Kolisi made his debut for the Boks in 2013 at the Mbombela Stadium against Scotland.
He is set to win his 66th test cap for the Boks when he leads South Africa out against New Zealand on the Lowveld.
“We can’t control what is happening in the All Black (s) camp, what we can control is what we can do and we as this group, we have never beaten the All Blacks in South Africa. So, that’s what we want to do, that’s our motive.”
Kolisi says, “We want to play really well to get our plans started with intensity and test ourselves against them. They are an amazing side, they have just lost two games in their past three games. We’ve been on the other side too, so we know what it feels like. It takes one game for you to kickstart so we are not chilling at all thinking what everybody else is thinking, we are just focusing on what we must get right.”
The video below has more on the Boks-All Blacks clash taking place on Saturday afternoon:
