Friday night’s Rugby World Cup warm-up match between South Africa and New Zealand at Twickenham is not a friendly according to Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.
Instead, the 32-year-old describes the rivalry between the two teams as the “greatest in sporting history”.
As the Boks enter their final warm-up match ahead of next month’s World Cup in France, Kolisi says of tackling Sam Cane and a strong All Blacks lineup in England: “It [their team selection] shows what their intent is. This is not a friendly game, we [the Springboks] never had a friendly match against the All Blacks.
A rivalry full of memorable moments 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦![CDATA[]]>🇳![CDATA[]]>🇿
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 24, 2023
Twickenham is ready for another historic clash between the #Springboks and #AllBlacks on Friday.#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/vOaemeS9ot
“We are all excited and looking forward to the battle, it’s going to be physical as usual.”
He adds: “We’re not going to hold back, we’re gonna go all out. I don’t think we’ll ever going to get this opportunity in our lifetime again to play [the All Blacks] in the northern hemisphere and we don’t want to disappoint people who paid money for this.”
Of the rivalry between the two teams, the skipper adds: “It’s probably the biggest rivalry in sporting history. There are a lot of South African people living in the UK…”
With one eye on the World Cup, Kolisi adds: “We are going to go flat out so that you know what works and what doesn’t work. We are up against one of the best teams in the world, so that’s why you want to go flat-out.
“I hope it’s an ugly, tough game, but beautiful at the same time.”
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Jean Kleyn, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Willie le Roux.
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Telea, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Luke Jacobson, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Ethan de Groot. Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Josh Lord, 20 Tupou Vaa'i, 21 Dalton Papali'i, 22 Cam Roigard, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.