By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has recovered from a hamstring injury and will be fit to face New Zealand in the second test of the “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” tour in Cape Town on Saturday, coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed.
Erasmus also confirmed that the experienced Springbok flanker will lead the Boks out at DHL Stadium.
Kolisi will form a loose trio with Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was initially named as captain in the Test in which he will earn his 100th Test cap on Saturday, and No 8 Jasper Wiese. It also means that Paul de Villiers drops out of the matchday squad.
The Bok coach said handing the captaincy back to Kolisi was also partly attributed to reducing the pressure on Du Toit in terms of leading the team while he marks this remarkable career milestone.
“Siya will be starting and he will captain the team,” Erasmus told the media on Tuesday.
“It was a hamstring niggle, not something major like he had before 2019 or 2023. It was a grade two tear, and it takes a little time to recover, and that’s why we’ve been cautious.”
“Last week it was touch and go, but we told him he had to run full out on Monday and he did so on Tuesday as well without any discomfort, so he’s good to go.”
Of the decision to hand over the captaincy to Kolisi, Erasmus said: “Pieter-Steph just took the captaincy for us on Monday so Siya could fully concentrate on his recovery and his work, and I had a chat with Pieter-Steph today and he agreed.”
“In this match you probably don’t want captaincy responsibilities, with the 100 to think about, and on top of that needing to play well, so Siya is our captain.
“The 23 guys who played together against Argentina played really well, and it’s not just his game that is good, he’s a very inspirational person who means a lot to this team on and off the field.”
Having had time to reflect on last week’s result in Johannesburg and regroup on and off the field, Erasmus said: “When we reviewed the game on Monday, we felt we were very dominant throughout up until about the 60-minute mark, and we were just a bit inaccurate in a few departments.”
“That’s what this week is for. Luckily in this competition we’ve still got three chances to keep going and get our game better.
“A lot of the things we asked the players to do, they did. The plan didn’t win the game for us, but it’s definitely also not the players who lost the game.”
“I’m taking responsibility for some of the decisions we made. We’re a group, but I think it’s a relevant point to explain why we lost, and some of it falls more on me than on the players to be honest.”
Erasmus said although the Boks were still hurting from the defeat they have turned their focus to this weekend’s match, and that as always, the key was to make the country proud.
“I’m definitely nervous again,” he said. “We’re one game down, and if we don’t win this game, we can’t win the series, we can only draw it. Nerves are there for sure. But we’ve been under this kind of pressure a lot, and hopefully we can turn things around this weekend.”