Cheslin Kolbe hopes he and his Springbok manskap can bring more Kaapse All Blacks to bekering this weekend when the two old rivals tackle mekaar at Cape Town Stadium.
The Bok pocket rocket still fondly remembers last year’s World Cup trophy tour after they beat the Kiwi’s 12-11 in France and how many Kapenaars steek’d uit to celebrate with them – some of them previously die-hard All Blacks fans who decided to swap black for green and gold.
There is, however, still ‘n vrag Cape Crusaders that back the men in black as they came out in their thousands the other day to welcome All Blacks coach Scott Robertson’s manne at Cape Town International Airport.
But after klapping the Kiwis 31-27 at Ellis Park, Kolbe says of going back-to-back and converting more Kaapse Kiwis on Saturday: “We have been struggling in the past with winning two consecutive games against top teams.
“[Like] Ireland earlier on this year, and we are trying to improve that consistency whenever we do play teams twice.
“As you know, South Africa versus New Zealand - it’s always a war…
“They are gonna come out firing and for us it’s just to make sure we are prepared as well as we can and we put ourselves in a position to stay on task and not to think too much about [going back to back]
“When we had the trophy tour here after the World Cup, there was a lot of support and hopefully we have won over more fans. They have a support base here and it’s something that keeps the game interesting.”
It will be the first time in Kolbe’s Bok career that he will face New Zealand in the city of his birth and he says of if he gets picked to play: “It will be an honour and a privilege if I get selected, but it’s not about me, it is about the team and us doing well.”
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus will announce his team to tackle the All Blacks this morning.
Rassie Erasmus has made a couple of changes to the #Springboks team to face New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday - more here: https://t.co/yz0I3pAykg 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/V7ZPNXJHwA
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 5, 2024