Nervous Kolisi hailed as Boks rally to stun England

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters): New South Africa Captain Siya Kolisi was a bag of nerves when the Springboks were blown away by a rampant England in the early stages of Saturday’s first test at Ellis Park, but praised his charges for rallying to win a pulsating encounter.

“I was very nervous as we didn’t expect to have such a tough time early in the game, but we have guys who had been in situations like that before,” the first black player to captain the Springboks said after his side had prevailed 42-39.

“Credit to the new caps because they didn’t panic and showed they just wanted to play, so we decided to take control of the game and it worked,” the loose forward added after his side overcame a 21-point deficit to triumph.

“Everything came together for us. The nerves were gone. We managed to get into sync and do those things that we know we can do well. We obviously would have wanted to start better, but the character the guys showed was amazing.”

The win put a seal on a historic day as the symbolism of Kolisi’s appointment was widely hailed, capped by a standing ovation from the Ellis Park crowd at the end of the game as the debut skipper and his teammates completed a lap of honour.

“There was a lot of pressure in the week with the hype around the making of history. It must have been very emotional for Siya,” said former Springbok flyhalf Joel Stransky, who kicked the 1995 World Cup winning points at the same stadium.

“It was goosebumps stuff for all of us. Boy, did he handle that emotion and pressure well, and he’s shown himself to be a real leader.”

Coach Rassie Erasmus admitted he had made life a little more difficult for the new captain by getting the initial tactics wrong in just his second game in charge of the national side.

He expected England to kick more, but was caught out when the visitors attacked the wide channels with relative ease to open a 24-3 lead in the first quarter of the match. The second contest in the three-match series is in Bloemfontein next Saturday, followed by the final test at Newlands in Cape Town on 23 June.