Siya Kolisi on healthy competition within the Bok squad keeping him sharp

The sharp edge of South African rugby has arguably never enjoyed the depth it has at the moment. Boss Rassie Erasmus has created a talent pool that runs so deep that sometimes it's hard to gauge what the best Bok XV actually is.

In a week where the Springboks are preparing to face their most fierce rival in the All Blacks, it's actually his teammates that have Kolisi sweating.

"Your competition is not the opposition, it's the guys that are playing with you," the double World Cup-winning captain told the press this week.

"It's healthy competition within the group. Marco [van Staden] is my best coach, Kwagga [Smith] is my best coach, that's the healthy competition.

"Then you add on what we play for: The people of South Africa. What you do with your talent, you are able to control someone's mood on Monday. I know how nice it is for people to go into the office and talk about how lekker it is when the Springboks won."

Van Staden and Smith have been in the Bok mix for a while, but the latest addition from the plethora of tireless South African loose forwards to the Springboks is Ben-Jason Dixon.

The 26-year-old put together a complete performance against the Wallabies in Round 1 of the Rugby Championship and now earns his first start against the mighty All Blacks: a debut in its own right. Kolisi was full of praise for Dixon, who has an immense work rate around the park.

"When coach talks about people taking their opportunities, that's what BJ has done," he continued.

"That's the kind of competition I'm talking about. You can never relax. You can never feel comfortable just because you have so many caps. There are guys coming.

"Every time I have the opportunity to play, I want to give absolutely everything because I don't know whether I'm playing next week or not. And you know [your replacement] is good enough to be playing that position too."

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