Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, says his side is well rested and ready to begin their Rugby Championship campaign against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday morning. Kolisi believes the Boks have cracked the travel conundrum, which for years set them on the backfoot when starting a tour of Australia.
The Springboks departed for Australia a week and a half ago, and it was planned that way to give the squad time to acclimatise and beat the jet lag. “Training has gone really well. We have been sharp at training and I think it is the way to go. It is so much better for us as players. We don’t have to worry about sleep anymore. Everything is in tune. It has been really good and also getting time off to go out because it can’t always be rugby. There has to be a place where we can switch off, you can go and have coffee outside and walk around. It has been really good for the players,” says Kolisi.
“Normally, when we played against Australia here in Brisbane, we don’t really pitch up physically and then we don’t normally execute our plans and that’s one thing you can’t afford to do against a team like Australia, because they have got players with a huge X factor in that team. So, on the day, if you are not at your best those players are good enough to punish you,” says Stick.