CAPE TOWN - Former Springbok captain Corne Krige believes that a captain’s most important role is to lead from the front. And he thinks that Siya Kolisi is the perfect man to do just that with the Stormers.
Springbok and Stormers loose forward Kolisi was named as the Stormers captain for the 2017 season on Tuesday, while fellow Springbok and lock Eben Etzebeth was appointed vice-captain.
Krige said that it was Kolisi’s style of play and his work rate that made him such a big fan of the new skipper.
“I think it’s a great appointment. I’ve always been a big fan of the way he plays and I have always said a captain’s most important role is to lead from the front. And I think that’s what he does,” he said.
“I’m a big fan of how he plays because he plays to the ball. He is always involved in a game and he’s a hard worker. A hard worker always gets a very good feeling of what’s happening in a game. I think he will get a lot of respect from the players with his play, and after that it’s easy to talk.”
Krige also said that it was a wise decision to hand the captain's armband to a forward, as they are the men who know all about what’s going on in the game.
“They know the kind of pressure the forwards are under. And then the captain can make good decisions. And that is why I’m a fan of a forward being the captain. I’m very happy with Siya’s appointment and I think he’ll make a great captain,” he said.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck, who in recent times said that he had a large leadership group consisting of seven players for the challenging Super Rugby season ahead, said that the flank would be well supported by the other “leaders” in the team.
“We have developed a number of strong leaders in this group, so Siya will certainly not be shouldering the responsibility on his own, but we felt it important to appoint someone who the team can rally around,” Fleck said.
“Although still quite young, Siya is already an experienced player who has matured both on and off the field and is one of the most popular and respected players in our squad."
And however challenging this season might seem, Kolisi said that the team were confident after securing a good pre-season record, as they beat the Cheetahs, the SWD Eagles and the Lions convincingly in the three friendlies.
That confidence will be needed, as the Stormers will face the New Zealand sides this year.
“Winning pre-season games does create a winning culture which is the most important thing. It gets you more ready because you know you’re playing against the best teams in the competition, they’ve been the best teams for the last couple of years,” Kolisi said.
Although many would consider any team who can sidestep the New Zealanders in a Super Rugby season lucky, the Stormers experienced the flip side of that “lucky” draw last year, when their first meeting with a New Zealand team ended in a 60-21 demolition by the Chiefs in their quarter-final match at Newlands.
That was the turning point for Fleck’s charges, who have since then made a number of changes in terms of their skill development, conditioning and preparation.
And now Kolisi said they were excited to measure their progress against the New Zealanders, and also added that they weren’t going to focus too much on any threats that the Kiwis could pose.
“We’re excited about it. People might see it differently, but we’re excited and it’s going to show us where we are when we test ourselves against them,” he said.
On his own physical condition, Kolisi said he was in good shape, and said the Stormers’ pre-season preparations and changes was the main reason for that.
“I’m feeling good. It’s been a long pre-season, I think it’s time to go now. It’s been really good, we’ve focused on looking after ourselves on and off the field,” Kolisi said.