Springbok skipper Kolisi: 'We could see the hurt in Franco's eyes'

While Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and coach Rassie Erasmus are in awe of their team’s fighting spirit, they are at their wits’ end regarding the red-card plague that has beset the team.

The Boks had to dig deep to beat Italy in Turin on Saturday after receiving an early red card for the second week in a row. In the 11th minute, lock Franco Mostert received a red card for a dangerous tackle, as did fellow second-rower Lood de Jager last week in the 38th minute of the Boks’ defeat of France.

Kolisi, commenting on his team’s impressive ability to adapt to dire situations, said: “We went through it last weekend, and this week we went through the same thing. So, we make plans in the game as we go along because such things happen.

“The biggest thing that we were asked this week is to show our ‘Africanness’, and that’s about making plans because there are always stumbles, and that’s what I am grateful for with our coaching staff.

“They are always prepared for any scenario, and even the guys who are not playing sit and make plans and decisions; they always buy in.”

Kolisi added: “It doesn’t make it easy for us. We can talk about sacrifices, but seeing a guy like Franco sitting there, we could see the hurt in his eyes.

“That said, I love the way this team can stand up and fight. We always say that whatever happens between those four lines, we can still go as hard as we can and control what we can.”

Erasmus was visibly frustrated by the red card and did his best to show restraint in his comments.

“It is what it is. What I say can’t make a difference,” he said. “I’m just grateful that we had Ben O’Keeffe on the one side and an experienced referee in James Doleman.”

The latter had a poor game, but Erasmus insisted he was not being sarcastic.

“I’m not saying it negatively. What I can say is that it’s sad that our captain had to make that sacrifice in his 100th game and also in this game.”

The Bok coach elaborated: “I always thought we wanted to get to 20-minute red cards, and we have to re-check on that, but it’s not my place to talk about it. However, it is sad for a captain to have to suffer twice in a week for us to win.

“I’m not saying the calls were wrong, but I definitely saw a lot of other shots in the game. By that I’m not criticising — that is life — and once we review the game, we may come to a different conclusion and see that we were totally wrong, and then we have to rectify it.

“We got a red card, and they got a yellow card, which I probably thought was the right call, but losing two locks in two games now for not going lower than possible… it’s tough to understand.

“Again, I’m not saying anyone is wrong, but we don’t know how to coach guys to go lower. It is especially tough for a two-metre-tall guy to face someone who is on his knees. And then to play with 13 men, and them with 14 for a while, it was tougher than last week.”

Erasmus said that while he is proud of the way the players adapted in the match to get the result and make it three out of three so far on tour, he remained sad for some of the players.

“Yes, we have a way to adapt, but it’s unfair to individuals like Siya and Ben-Jason Dixon, who received a chance for the first time in a long time but had to leave the field early to make way for a lock replacement,” said Erasmus.

“Everyone — even the players not playing — was making plans. We are a very proud team in the way we level-change and avoid head contact, but we’ve received so many red cards. Makazole Mapimpi and Jasper Wiese both got six-week suspensions, and we are really trying hard.

“It’s not just them suffering; the game is suffering. It certainly makes us tighter as a team and more desperate, but it doesn’t take the hurt away, even though we got through it. I’m happy with the result, but I’m still sad for the players who have to take the brunt for someone who did something wrong by accident.”

The Boks play Ireland this week in Dublin.