Siya Kolisi was honoured to be selected to lead the Springboks for the 50th time in Sunday’s final Rugby World Cup pool match against Tonga and said it was a milestone he never thought he would achieve.

Kolisi explained his rugby journey and gave credit to those who made this achievement possible at a media conference at the team hotel outside Toulon and Friday.

“I never dreamed of this,” he said. “I started playing rugby because I enjoyed it, it kept me out of trouble and my friends played the sport. But I certainly didn’t think I’d be sitting here now.”

“It was not an easy road because I was always the joker and the naughty guy in a team. At the Boks it was difficult at first, but there is no greater honour (than being the Bok captain).

“Being the first black captain made it tough too, but I would never have made it to this point if it was not for my team-mates, as well as coach Rassie (Erasmus, Director of Rugby) and coach Jacques (Nienaber). They put structures in place around me to assist me, and thanks to them it made my job easier.”

Sunday’s match will not only be a big one for Kolisi and the team, it will also be an important match for flyhalf Handre Pollard, who makes his return to the side for the first time since August last year following calf and knee injuries – a challenge the player adopted with a realistic mindset.

“It’s unbelievable to be back in the team and in this environment, and I’m trying to enjoy every day,” said Pollard.

“The calf injury I suffered was supposed to keep me out for four weeks and it ended up being three months.

“Not being selected for the World Cup squad was tough, but such is life. The coaches told us to remain positive and I was lucky to get the call.”

Commenting about his expectations in his first game back, Pollard said: “I’m realistic about this weekend. Playing 30 minutes of club rugby is very different to playing in a World Cup. I just want to express myself, although I know it won’t be perfect.”

Kolisi also welcomed his team-mate back with open arms and said they would try to make his job as easy as possible on Sunday: “I’m looking forward to working with Handre again. He’s experienced, he has a strong personality and he’s a general at No 10. We all want him to enjoy himself and not have to play under too much pressure, and we’ll try to put him in a position to do so.”

Looking forward to the match against Tonga, Nienaber said it was vital to improve a few areas of their game to book a quarter-final spot and attempt to defend their title.

“We obviously have goals if you take the results out of the way,” said Nienaber.

“Firstly, we need a win, then a bonus point and a good points difference, and then there are things that we need to rectify which we didn’t get right against Ireland. We need to get our foundations right to get to the quarter-final and onward otherwise we won’t make it through.”

Sunday’s match at Stade de Marseille kicks off at 21:00.

Springboks - 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Grant Williams, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Ox Nche

Replacements - 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Steven Kitshoff 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Jessie Kriel, 23 Manie Libbok