Springboks captain Siya Kolisi is looking forward to locking horns with old adversary Tom Curry when they face England in the Nations Championship at Ellis Park.<\/p>\n
The two flankers are no strangers to playing on the big stage and both start on the openside for their respective team on Saturday, with Kolisi hugely respectful of Curry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the toughest guys I\u2019ve ever played against,\u201d he praised.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember since 2018, and then in the 2019 World Cup Final too. He is a special human being, and I love playing against him. Tomorrow\u2019s going to be no different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curry-Mbonambi spat<\/p>\n
One journalist did quiz Kolisi<\/a> on the incident in 2023 involving Curry<\/a> and Boks<\/a> hooker Bongi Mbonambi whereby the English player accused the South African of racism.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about,\u201d a confused Kolisi responded before admitting he \u201cforgot about\u201d the fallout from that Rugby World Cup semi-final in France.<\/p>\n \u201cMany things have gone by and it\u2019s a new game. For us, if you\u2019re going to be thinking about that then your mind wouldn\u2019t be on the game, you know,\u201d Kolisi explained.<\/p>\n With home ground advantage and their placing in the world rankings favouring the Boks, Kolisi shot down suggestions that his side were the outright favourites to win.<\/p>\n Springboks v England prediction: Rassie Erasmus\u2019 side to blow the English away in \u2018bloody\u2019 and \u2018painful\u2019 Ellis Park showdown<\/a><\/p>\n Bob Skinstad claims \u2018everyone out to get\u2019 Springboks as Rassie Erasmus\u2019 men embark on \u2018year like no other\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe listen to our coaches, and we know what it feels like to be beaten,\u201d said the skipper.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never walk into any match feeling like we\u2019re definitely going to win. If we did, we wouldn\u2019t have prepared the way we prepared this week. We\u2019ve seen what England<\/a> have done in Tests before, and we know the form they\u2019re in, so we are in a strong mindset as a team.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying against them is always a big deal. They always pitch up, and we\u2019re excited because we know how big it\u2019s going to be for them and for us as well.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about the pressure on the Springboks going into the match, Kolisi said: \u201cThere\u2019s always pressure. You\u2019d be silly to feel comfortable. But I think that\u2019s what keeps us going.\u201d<\/p>\n England praise<\/p>\n England may have come off a disappointing 2026 Six Nations campaign, but Kolisi stressed that would not cloud their judgement about them as a top-quality outfit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve analysed them, and results-wise, I don\u2019t think we can take too much from their Six Nations campaign because if you look at their last game against France, they almost won it in the final seconds, and France is one of the best teams in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n