Kolisi hungry for more as Boks switch to knockout mode for Argentina challenge

SPRINGBOK captain Siya Kolisi cut to the chase in his customary pre-match press conference when he stated that his team had switched to knockout mode for today’s crunch clash with Argentina in Durban.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

SPRINGBOK flyhalf Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu takes a high ball during the team's captain's practice in Durban.

(I LEON LESTRADE)

“We are treating this match as a semifinal,” Kolisi said of the Boks’ penultimate match of the most exciting Rugby Championship since the tournament's inception in 1996. The four teams — South Africa, Australia, Argentina, and New Zealand — have each won and lost two matches, and it will be the team that holds its nerve over the next fortnight that will claim the title.

“This is Test match rugby, and it is about trying to win a semifinal,” Kolisi explained. “Ourselves and Argentina have the opportunity to win the Rugby Championship, and if we don’t pitch up mentally and physically at Kings Park, and if we don’t respect the Pumas, we will be in trouble.”

Playoff rugby is bread and butter for Kolisi’s double world champions. They know how to grind out wins in high-pressure situations.