Siya Kolisi is preparing for a toe-to-toe battle with Wales tomorrow, name-checking full-back Liam Williams to illustrate how the visitors are ‘tough people’.
South Africa will host the first of three Test matches in Pretoria tomorrow, with the build-up all circling around the home team being significant favourites. But the Springboks themselves are wary of the challenge that lies in wait for them.
Wales are desperate to reverse their fortunes, having stewed on a defeat to Italy for three months. Giving his views ahead of the match, South Africa skipper Kolisi insisted they weren’t taking things lightly.
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He said: “Welsh guys are tough and they don’t stop for 80 minutes. We know that as a team they will stand up to us physically for the whole 80 minutes, so when you have your opportunities, you have to take them.
“You saw in the [Rugby World Cup] semi-final, it went down to the wire. It was so close. We’ve got similar game plans, a similar way of playing and they’re tough people who have also been through hardships.
“Some of these stories in their team, where they come from... A guy like Liam Williams is a hard guy, he’s a nice guy off the field but he’s no nonsense.
“On the field, he will go toe-to-toe and that’s what we’re preparing for tomorrow. They’re not going to be scared, we respect them a lot and that’s why we’ve made sure to prepare as hard as we can this weekend.
“We’re going to have to make sure we don’t just pitch up tomorrow but we pitch up with the right attitude.”
Kolisi is familiar with Wales, having faced them on many occasions, but this will be the first time that the opposition captain will be Dan Biggar, with Alun Wyn Jones poised to come off the bench for Wayne Pivac’s side.
He said: “I think he’s [Biggar] a very good player, I’ve seen him play. I saw him when he played for the Lions as well and he’s a very vocal guy. He gets the team behind him, especially when his confidence is high and he’s playing well.
“I watch the Premiership as well and I’ve seen him perform there. If he is on song then everyone gets behind him.”
South Africa rightly carry the favourites tag into this Test series, particularly given the gulf between the two sides in the world rankings – Springboks sit top of the tree, while Wales are in ninth, below Argentina and Scotland among others.
But Saturday’s hosts were in a similar position when they toppled the All Blacks out of nowhere in 2018, setting them on a path to World Cup glory. They are living proof of what a team in Wales’ position are capable of.
Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick warns: “Remember, we have been in their position as the number seven team in the world in 2018. We knew at that time, when the All Blacks were the best team in the world, that if we win against them then a lot of people would forgive us.
“At least we could breathe after that All Blacks game, because the people of South Africa could see: ‘Okay, there is something in this team’ and we built from that moment.
“To be able to win against the best team in the world, we were desperate on the other side of it. We know very well that Wales will be desperate to beat the best team in the world, they will come hard against us. Those guys are just stubborn, they don’t go away.
“For us to be able to stay at the Palazzo hotel (South Africa’s plush Johannesburg base) and have the blue lights on the way to training... if you’re going to be too comfortable, with the quality they’ve got in that team, you might find yourself 20 points down.”
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