- Springbok captain Siya Kolisi admitted to not getting the respect he felt he deserved from first Test referee Nic Berry.
- Kolisi's assertion confirmed the contents of SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus's video claiming Berry wasn't communicating well with Kolisi.
- Kolisi said they are under pressure to win the second Test against the British & Irish Lions on Saturday to square the series.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said Australian match official Nic Berry didn't give him the necessary respect and leeway to communicate effectively during last week's first Test between the Springboks and the British & Irish Lions.
Berry's handling of the game and how he communicated with Kolisi came in for microscopic scrutiny in SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus's 62-minute video.
While Erasmus's video raised the attention of World Rugby and Rugby Australia, it's put a lot of pressure on New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe, who will be in charge of Saturday's second Test between South Africa and the British & Irish Lions.
Kolisi said all he expected from O'Keeffe was fairness and balanced communication.
"I didn't feel respected and I feel I wasn't given a fair opportunity," Kolisi said.
"It's a new game and a new ref. I hope Ben will give a fair opportunity for both captains and that's all that's asked for."
Kolisi's temperature was raised when a British journalist asked him how he was disrespected by Berry, but quickly composed himself by saying his focus has shifted to Saturday's must-win Test.
"Did you watch the video? You need to watch the video and ask the question again and it's something I don't want to go into," Kolisi said.
"I'm looking to forget about it, but I didn't get the full access to the referee and if you watch the video, you'll see what I'm talking about.
"I can't change anything now and my focus is on the game and that's where I'm looking towards now."
Kolisi though admitted they are under pressure to overturn the 1-0 series deficit the British & Irish Lions accrued through the 22-17 success in the first Test.
"There is pressure, but we need to focus on what we can do and what we can control," Kolisi said.
"We've made sure that we'll fix the mistakes that we've made in the game during the game and we saw where we went wrong.
"If I told you there was no pressure, that wouldn't be correct, but we're looking forward to the game because we love what we do."
Kick-off is at 18:00 on Saturday.
Teams:
South Africa
15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse
British & Irish Lions:
15 Stuart Hogg (Scotland), 14 Anthony Watson (England), 13 Chris Harris (Scotland), 12 Robbie Henshaw (Ireland), 11 Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), 10 Dan Biggar (Wales), 9 Conor Murray (Ireland) 8 Jack Conan (Ireland), 7 Tom Curry (England), 6 Courtney Lawes (England), 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain, Wales), 4 Maro Itoje (England), 3 Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (England), 1 Mako Vunipola (England)
Substitutes: 16 Ken Owens (Wales), 17 Rory Sutherland (Scotland) 18 Kyle Sinckler (England), 19 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), 20 Taulupe Faletau (Wales), 21 Ali Price (Scotland), 22 Owen Farrell (England), 23 Elliot Daly (England)