Fired by a stirring second Test victory, the Springboks want their winning momentum to carry them over the line against the British & Irish Lions in their rugby showdown on Saturday.
Though they have the wind in their sails, the Boks face fiercely determined opponents gunning to topple them at the Cape Town Stadium (6pm).
After acrimony soured the first two contests, friction is guaranteed in what promises to be a gladiatorial series-deciding spectacle.
In round number three of the contest the Lions are expected to play an expansive game and avoid trench warfare against the Boks.
Bok skipper Siya Kolisi said there was a huge sense of anticipation in his team ahead of the definitive game of the series.
Asked if it was a similar feeling to that he had felt ahead of the 2019 World Cup final, Kolisi said: “Yes, it is definitely similar, but I think at the same time it is different because this opportunity for a whole lot of us will not come again.
“Mentally we have prepared and done as much as we can for the last game.
“We are in a unique position and very excited for Saturday.
“The biggest thing in our team is to control the controllables and there is not much we can do about injuries in the squad.
“We feel sad for the guys who get injured, but at the same time it is an opportunity for someone else.
“Franco Mostert stood up and his work rate is second to none and now he has another opportunity at flank.
“All we have to do is challenge all the time and Franco knows his role which he performed last week.
Kolisi said it was wonderful to have the experienced Morne Steyn on the bench.
“Morne has been amazing,” he said.
“From the first time I met Morne his energy and love for rugby has remained the same.
“He is still hungry and helping the guys to prepare.
“Now Morne is getting his chance and it will be an important have a cool head like his.
“We need that and you can’t buy experience and wisdom like that.
“it will be of huge value for us in this Test.”
Lions boss Warren Gatland says the Boks will miss their injured stars Faf de Klerk and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
“They will be two big losses for the Boks as they are both world-class players who could have a big impact on the match,” Gatland said.
“We thought that when Faf came off he might have had a hamstring or a glute injury, so we weren’t expecting him to be playing this weekend.
“We weren’t sure about Du Toit in terms of the knock he took early on in the game and tried to play through, but he wasn’t right.
“Losing Faf possibly changes the way we are going to look at things.
“They might kick more off Handré Pollard like they did at the weekend.
“Pollard kicked a lot more in the second Test so they may revert to that.
“With Faf’s left-foot game and the way he defends, everything is on the edge with him in the way that he plays.
“He’s pretty feisty.
“It’s not so much about the creativity, it’s about making sure that we get some front-foot ball on Saturday.
“I wouldn’t say that SA have been creative in any way.
“From an attacking perspective they haven’t really stressed us.
“We played some good rugby earlier on in this tour when we got some front-foot ball.
“At the weekend we had some good phases and we highlighted and identified to the players where we had created some chances, but probably just didn’t execute them.”
The teams:
SA: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff, Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Damian Willemse
LIONS: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones. Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Elliot Daly
Boks have wind in their sails
Everything to play for as Lions tour heads for an epic finale
Rugby writer
Image: GETTY IMAGES
Fired by a stirring second Test victory, the Springboks want their winning momentum to carry them over the line against the British & Irish Lions in their rugby showdown on Saturday.
Though they have the wind in their sails, the Boks face fiercely determined opponents gunning to topple them at the Cape Town Stadium (6pm).
After acrimony soured the first two contests, friction is guaranteed in what promises to be a gladiatorial series-deciding spectacle.
In round number three of the contest the Lions are expected to play an expansive game and avoid trench warfare against the Boks.
Bok skipper Siya Kolisi said there was a huge sense of anticipation in his team ahead of the definitive game of the series.
Asked if it was a similar feeling to that he had felt ahead of the 2019 World Cup final, Kolisi said: “Yes, it is definitely similar, but I think at the same time it is different because this opportunity for a whole lot of us will not come again.
“Mentally we have prepared and done as much as we can for the last game.
“We are in a unique position and very excited for Saturday.
“The biggest thing in our team is to control the controllables and there is not much we can do about injuries in the squad.
“We feel sad for the guys who get injured, but at the same time it is an opportunity for someone else.
“Franco Mostert stood up and his work rate is second to none and now he has another opportunity at flank.
“All we have to do is challenge all the time and Franco knows his role which he performed last week.
Kolisi said it was wonderful to have the experienced Morne Steyn on the bench.
“Morne has been amazing,” he said.
“From the first time I met Morne his energy and love for rugby has remained the same.
“He is still hungry and helping the guys to prepare.
“Now Morne is getting his chance and it will be an important have a cool head like his.
“We need that and you can’t buy experience and wisdom like that.
“it will be of huge value for us in this Test.”
Lions boss Warren Gatland says the Boks will miss their injured stars Faf de Klerk and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
“They will be two big losses for the Boks as they are both world-class players who could have a big impact on the match,” Gatland said.
“We thought that when Faf came off he might have had a hamstring or a glute injury, so we weren’t expecting him to be playing this weekend.
“We weren’t sure about Du Toit in terms of the knock he took early on in the game and tried to play through, but he wasn’t right.
“Losing Faf possibly changes the way we are going to look at things.
“They might kick more off Handré Pollard like they did at the weekend.
“Pollard kicked a lot more in the second Test so they may revert to that.
“With Faf’s left-foot game and the way he defends, everything is on the edge with him in the way that he plays.
“He’s pretty feisty.
“It’s not so much about the creativity, it’s about making sure that we get some front-foot ball on Saturday.
“I wouldn’t say that SA have been creative in any way.
“From an attacking perspective they haven’t really stressed us.
“We played some good rugby earlier on in this tour when we got some front-foot ball.
“At the weekend we had some good phases and we highlighted and identified to the players where we had created some chances, but probably just didn’t execute them.”
The teams:
SA: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff, Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Damian Willemse
LIONS: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones. Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Elliot Daly
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Latest Videos
Most Read
Rugby
Rugby
Sport
Cricket
Sport