Stick praises De Villiers in Kolisi’s absence

The Springboks take on New Zealand this evening at Ellis Park Stadium in the first of four test matches in the inaugural Greatest Rivalry Tour. Regular Springboks captain and jersey No. 6 Kolisi remains sidelined as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Speaking at yesterday’s captains press conference, Stick commended De Villiers for his maturity and said he is excited to see how the youngster will handle the challenge of facing the All Blacks.

"Yeah, again not having Siya, we know he's our captain, he's our leader you know. Not having him will always be a big loss for us but once again I think people are now starting to see the changes when it comes to giving some of the players opportunities you know,” Stick said.

“We didn't know that Siya was not gonna be ready for this game but the trust that we've shown in Paul de Villiers you know from the beginning against big teams gave him an opportunity and everyone is talking about him now, you know. “But one thing that I enjoy about him is his maturity at that age. He understands his role very well in the team and like we always say, irrespective of your age, if you take full ownership of what needs to be done in a team, you are also a leader and a senior."

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The 23-year-old flanker made his Test debut at Ellis Park Stadium in July  has played three official Test matches with 5 points, 1 try and a Players of the Match award against Wales in the July 2026 Nations Championship a match in which he played the full 80 minutes. 

Stick has credited the senior players in the squad for empowering the younger players, adding that De Villiers is surrounded by experienced players in the back row, including Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese which brings the best out of him.

"So I am excited and looking forward to seeing what he can do but once again he's got strong people around him. We look at the combination and he doesn't have to worry about Pieter Steph's job,” he added. 

“Pietie will do his job, Jasper will do his job, they are experienced enough and that's one thing I enjoy more especially with our leadership group around. They always empower the youngsters and I think that brings the best out of them. I'm excited and hopefully you can also have a great jol."