South Africa standout reacts to 'lethargic' performance against England

The Springboks have dealt another blow to a disappointing Autumn Nations Series for Steve Borthwick’s England at Allianz Stadium.

Borthwick and his coaching staff are under increasing pressure after losing to the Wallabies last week, the All Blacks the week before, and now the world champion Springboks at home. 

England will rue missed opportunities, especially when South Africa were down to 14 men after a yellow card to reserve prop Gerhard Steenekamp in the 67th minute.

England failed to capitalize on the man advantage, leading to Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks side closing out the game comfortably. 

For the world champion Springboks, it’s another close Test match won away from home, taking their 2024 Autumn Nations Series campaign to two wins from two. 

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi believes his team finished the game strongly.

“It took us a while to get into the game, but I’m glad that we made sure we stayed in the game and kept on fighting,” Kolisi told the media after the 29-20 victory over England.

The Springboks captain was gracious in victory and told England it would take time to gel under Steve Borthwick. 

“For England, congrats on them for the performance, it’s tough, we’ve been there, it takes time and it will definitely turn around. 

“We didn’t quite get to play the way we wanted to play, and the way we normally play, but when we needed something, we always found a way to make it through and that’s the mindset of the team.”

When asked about his team’s performance, Kolisi said the main thing is finding a way to win when not playing at your best.

“I think that’s the ultimate thing, finding a way to win, it’s not always going to go great, we obviously want to go there with the way we want to go, it’s all about the will and understanding that you’re gonna have to go to different places and try and get the win, and that’s the mindset within the group. 

“We never panic, we are always calm and have good leaders in the team. We have been in these positions before so the experience helps us quite a lot.

Superstar winger Cheslin Kolbe said he was proud of the way his team battled against England. 

“The boys have done unbelievably well, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy coming to Twickenham. They’ve been very unlucky with the first few games they’ve lost close to the end, but man it’s always a tough match coming down to England,” Kolbe said to media after the game. 

South Africa’s performance was far from perfect, but Kolbe says the team remained positive throughout.

“We were full of energy, but we just were not as accurate as we wanted to be in the first 20 minutes. I think we were just lethargic to be quite honest, there were a good couple of words to make sure we turn up in the first five to ten minutes in the second half, and it’s good to see the boys did that.

“We can’t afford to just be playing only the second half, it’s an 80+ minute game and we need to make sure we are better than that next week and step up our game.”