By Gavin Rich.
Siya Kolisi’s inclusion in the Springbok World Cup squad announced last week was already confirmation that the speculation is over and the next step of seeing him back in his familiar green and gold No 6 jersey is imminent – it is just a question of when.
The Boks have two warmup fixtures to play before their World Cup opener against Scotland in Marseille on 10 September – against Wales this coming Saturday and then New Zealand six days later. It is likely Kolisi will play a part in at least one if not both those games, and we will know more when the Bok team for the Wales game is announced later on Tuesday.
However, while assistant coach Daan Human, who is in charge of the Bok scrumming, did not feel he could disclose the plan around Kolisi, and preferred to leave the questions for later in the week for head coach Jacques Nienaber to answer, he did give a strong indication that Kolisi could play against Wales if the coaches were prepared to take that step.
However, timing is everything now, and there is an obvious reluctance to push Kolisi too soon for fear of jeopardising his chances of leading the team against Scotland in just under four weeks from now.
“There is no pressure on us to play Siya or Ox Nche (who has also been out injured), and that is maybe a question you should ask later in the week (of the head coach),” said Human in an online press conference on Monday.
“We are trying to be fair to them. We want to give them the best chance to be in a better position when they do return. We want them to be in position to be chosen for the first World Cup game.”
Without saying so in as many words, Human intimated that the importance of Kolisi to the Bok cause might see his return delayed until the game against New Zealand, which would put him in a similar position to the one he was in going into the last World Cup in Japan, where he had just one warmup game against the hosts after an equally long injury layoff.
The news around the Bok skipper’s rehabilitation has been good from day 1 of his recovery from the ligament injury sustained playing for the Sharks against Munster in their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship league game, and it continues to be so now that he is poised to return to the playing field.
“Last week he trained fully. Siya is in a good place,” said Human. “All the contacts he has needed to take he has taken (in training), he has performed well and without any discomfort in the area that is my responsibility, the scrums, and he did everything he is supposed to do. Hopefully he will play a big role in the warmup games, if not this week then next week.
“He is one of the dogs you want to let loose when it is time to let them loose,” he added.
The Bok team for the game against Wales will be announced at lunch time on Tuesday.