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Kolisi: World Cup was 'tough'

Cape Town - In total, Siya Kolisi played for 34 minutes at Rugby World Cup 2015. 

He made appearances off the bench in the Springboks' first two matches of the tournament against Japan and Samoa, but once Willem Alberts had recovered from injury it was the end of Kolisi's tournament. 

Now, back in Cape Town and fully focused in his Super Rugby preparations with the Stormers, Kolisi has opened up on his experience at the tournament. 

And while he acknowledges the difficulties that came with not playing, the 24-year-old looks back at the experience with a lot of fond memories. 

"It was tough because obviously I wasn’t playing. But I had lots of fun off the field. It made me stronger as a person because that was a tough period of time ... I had to be strong and be positive for the team," Kolisi said at this week's Stormers jersey launch.

"I always put the team first … but I would have loved to play more than I did."

Kolisi says that the off-field activity, and a lot of "sight-seeing", kept him going during the difficult times.

"It was a great experience for me. I had a great time with the guys that weren’t playing and the guys that were playing as well … my family was there for a bit so it was amazing," he said.

"I didn’t think too much about not playing, because you kind of make peace with it at some stage."

With a new Bok coach set to be announced, and with former Stormers coach Allister Coetzee the favourite for the post, Kolisi has reason to be optimistic about his international future. 

But that is not where his head is at right now.

"As long as the team (Stormers) does well, the individuals will shine at the end. We’re just going to carry on," he said.

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