South Africa captain applauded for speech in Rugby World Cup press conference

12 September 2023 , 10:32

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Siya Kolisi was quick to stand up for his fly-half

South African skipper Siya Kolisi was applauded in Sunday's post-match press conference after passionately defending team-mate Manie Libbock.

The fly-half struggled with his kicking off the tee during their 18-3 win over Scotland in Marseille. It is not the first time the 10 has misfired in front of the posts and eventually scrum-half Faf de Klerk took on the responsibility, which later became a talking point.

Kolisi though has been keen to point out all of the positives Libbock brings - including a sensational no look kick pass to set-up the second try. The 32-year-old insists the team will continue to cover for each other's weaknesses, citing his own shortcomings at times, which earned applause from one journalist, leading to a smile from the captain.

He said after the match: “From a players’ point of view, this question gets asked quite a lot when he misses kicks, but we play as a team. Sometimes you’re not good at one thing on the day but the way he attacked, the way he took control of the team – he’s a general amongst us.

“People forget that and they remember what he didn’t do. Faf can kick, Cheslin (Kolbe) can kick, there are a lot of guys we can call upon.

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"When someone’s lacking somewhere, somebody else takes over. It’s the same as me. Sometimes I don’t know what to call in the game, so Duane (Vermeulen) will call, Eben (Etzebeth) will call or Manie makes a call. He’s not going to be good at everything every single day.

Manie Libbok's kicking was criticised

"You can’t have everything on the day, that’s why we work together. That’s why we don’t stress about it. It’s the same as a throw. If you throw it not straight, you don’t do it intentionally. We’re working as a group, we work together and he has confidence in us. If Faf has to kick, nobody stresses, we move on.”

Head coach Jacques Nienaber was originally quizzed on Libbock's failures from the tee, but batted them away before Kolisi interjected. The Stormers fly-half is filling the void left by Leicester's Handre Pollard, who kicked South Africa to World Cup glory four years ago.

The defending champions made a statement in their opening game as their power was more than enough to overcome Scotland. Their crunch pool stage game will come against Ireland in a matter of weeks with the winner set to top the group.

Samuel Meade