Springbok World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi will lead his side into battle in the much-anticipated two-test series against Ireland next month, coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed on Wednesday.
Kolisi, who rejoined the team on Sunday after his season with Racing 92 in France ended was under a question mark after recent comments from his club’s owner criticising him as well as earlier comments made by Erasmus that he would prefer a captain who was based locally.
But in the end, Erasmus decided that he wanted Kolisi as captain and made no bones about how happy he was that he was back.
“Siya will be captain, he will be six flank and Siya has no injury. Siya is not fat and Siya is not transparent,” Erasmus said in reaction to the comments of Jackie Lorenzetti, the owner of Racing 92.
Lorenzetti critised Kolisi in a bizarre swipe after his club lost to Bordeaux in their playoff game.
“Kolisi had a remarkable start to the season, where he was a unifier off the field,” Lorenzetti said.
“The injury layoff was harmful to him. He gained weight, lost shape and yesterday [against Bordeaux], he was transparent. In the back row, we used to have an ultra-present warrior, a warrior called Wenceslas Lauret. For the moment, Siya is not making us forget Wenceslas. But we think that next year, that will change.”
ERASMUS BACKS KOLISI
It is clear that Erasmus doesn’t share the sentiments, and the fact that Kolisi will continue as captain for the first time since lifting the second World Cup was a massive vote of confidence in him.
Earlier in the year, Erasmus had hinted that he may look at a captain based locally, with hooker Bongi Mbonambi and lock Eben Etzebeth the favourites. Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit captained the side in their one-off victory over Wales this past weekend at Twickenham and could take the reins as well.
Meanwhile, there was further good news for the Boks as wingers Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, as well as fullback Willie le Roux, were declared fit for the Irish series.
Kolbe had been struggling with a knee niggle and was initially “touch and go” in Erasmus’ words for the test series, but has since recovered sufficiently to be considered. Arendse had made a miraculous recovery from a fractured cheekbone to be a surprise inclusion in the Bulls team that lost the URC final to Glasgow, while Le Roux missed the final after failing a Head Injury Assessment in the semifinal against Leinster.
The hero of the Twickenham win, debutant Edwill van der Merwe is still being “managed” with a shoulder injury while both winger Makazole Mapimpi (hamstring) and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk (quadriceps) “would be managed this week”.
There was also good news on the injury to World Cup-winning winger Canan Moodie - who fractured an index finger during the URC season and was thought to be out of action for the Irish series. Erasmus confirmed that while he will miss the first test, Moodie would rejoin the camp for the second test against Ireland in Durban on 13 July.