Siya Kolisi admitted the Springboks’ Ellis Park collapse was “unacceptable” after the Wallabies overturned a 22-point deficit in stunning fashion
Siya Kolisi admitted the Springboks’ Ellis Park collapse was “unacceptable” after the Wallabies overturned a 22-point deficit in stunning fashion
Siya: We let ourselves down today
The Boks blew a big lead and were shut out for more than three quarters of the game as Australia stormed back with six tries to claim a famous 38-22 victory at altitude.
The Wallabies not only stunned Johannesburg, but also walked away with a full house of log points to boost their Rugby Championship campaign ahead of their home Tests.
Speaking to SuperSport after the final whistle, Kolisi admitted the breakdown was where the game was lost.
We let ourselves down today. They definitely won the breakdown battle – congratulations to Fraser McReight for getting Man of the Match tonight.
“Ja, we let ourselves down and we have to take that on the chin. It’s unacceptable the way we performed. To start like that and to take your foot off the pedal – it’s just unacceptable from us.”
Kolisi paid tribute to the Australians’ grit in front of a stunned Ellis Park crowd.
“Credit to the Australian team. They played really well, they kept on fighting, they never gave up even though they went behind, so well done to them. We’re not proud of the performance we did today.”
While the Boks face a week of soul-searching before the rematch in Cape Town, Kolisi says there’s no time to sulk.
“We’re going to lift ourselves up and go next week and fight. There’s not much else we can do.”
South Africa’s early salvo came courtesy of Andre Esterhuzien, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Siya Kolisi, but as they pushed to play a wider, attacking style, so errors and unfamiliarity crept in, with McReight and Tom Hooper really coming into their own at the breakdown and in defence, to dominate proceedings, with the openside winning four penalties and two turnovers in addition to his 20 tackles in a simply brilliant personal outing.
