THE Springboks desperately want to win the Freedom Cup and its all they are focusing on this afternoon against the All Blacks in Cape Town.
While the world champions would take a significant step to claim the Rugby Championship title for the first time since 2019 with a win in the DHL Stadium (5pm kick-off), captain Siya Kolisi yesterday afternoon painted the picture of the Freedom Cup as the trophy they are chasing first at his captains press conference.
How much this would mean to Kolisi and the side is underpinned by the fact that the captain is playing through a facial injury to lead the side into battle, and the Boks are selecting veterans ahead of their exciting youngsters in key positions and have moved away from a 6-2 replacement bench split to counter the Kiwis with five forwards and three backs as impact players.
Its the first time since 2017 that the Boks and All Blacks lock horns in Cape Town, with the visitors winning 25-24 at Newlands the last time. That was in front of about 52 000 supporters; today, a crowd of about 55 000 should pitch for the sold-out clash.
Kolisi, whos played most of his rugby in Cape Town, said they are ready for the challenge.
