Mzwandile Stick has called for full focus ahead of Saturday's Nations Championship Northern Series opener against Italy at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, cautioning that the Azzurri at home present a genuine challenge regardless of world ranking positions.
Stick pointed to the broader stakes of the tour, with France and Ireland to follow before the Finals Weekend of 27–29 November. "To give ourselves a chance of playing in the final, we have to start this tour well," he said. "There's a lot to play for against the northern hemisphere teams, and on the other side we're still competing with New Zealand to finish on top of the southern hemisphere table, so the structure brings a lot of excitement and the guys are engaged."
Italy will be without Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello through injury, but Stick declined to treat their absence as a significant softening of the opposition. "They still have a quality side," he said. "Ange Capuozzo is world class, and probably one of the best outside backs in the world — if you give him space and time, he'll punish you. They still have world-class players in their backline, with guys like Monty Ioane on the wing and Paolo Garbisi at No 10, so it's going to be a tough game."
Kolisi, set to earn his 108th Test cap as captain, dismissed any suggestion the squad might need time to find their rhythm after the break since the Rugby Championship match against Australia in September. "Two weeks in, the guys started messaging each other because we missed each other, so it's never hard for us to get up for a game," he said.
With the Boks and New Zealand level on 15 points in the southern hemisphere standings, Kolisi was measured on the question of chasing a bonus-point win. "The first thing is to get the win, and if we get the lead in the game, then we can go for the bonus point. You can't think about bonus points before you even have a win."
Kickoff at the Allianz Stadium is at 13:40 SA time.