By Gavin Rich.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is on track with his rehabilitation from knee ligament surgery and could be given until the start of the Rugby World Cup itself to be ready to lead his team at the global showpiece event in France.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and SARU director of rugby Rassie Erasmus told a press conference in Cape Town on Thursday that stand-in captains will be appointed to lead the team in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship that will be played as a prelude to the World Cup.
“Historically we have been through this before and we know that Siya can play at a World Cup and do a good job of leading the team as that was what happened in 2019,” said Nienaber.
“You will recall that Siya was injured back then as well and did not play through most of the build-up to the tournament. He didn’t lead the team when we won the Rugby Championship that year, and from memory he only played off the bench in our final warmup test in Pretoria before our departure and then he played in the game we played against Japan in Japan two weeks before the start of the tournament.
Nienaber added that Kolisi will be giving him right up until the tournament itself if that has to be the case as the fixture list for the World Cup makes it possible for him to ease his way into full match fitness in the initial stages of the tournament.
The Boks play the All Blacks in a warmup game in London two weeks before the kickoff of the World Cup.
‘Hitting all the targets’
It will be recalled that it wasn’t Kolisi but experienced and respected No 8 Duane Vermeulen who led the team to the Rugby Championship win in the last World Cup year.
Erasmus stressed that it was because of Kolisi’s role in the team that they were prepared to give him until the last minute to prove his readiness to lead the team at the Rugby World Cup that begins in September.
“It is because he is captain that we are doing this. So far he is hitting all the targets and his recovery is proceeding well,” said Erasmus.
The director of rugby, who coached the Boks to the World Cup title in Japan four years ago, said the main emphasis at this point was the preparation for the Rugby Championship.
“We have found it is better to take each challenge as it comes and go step by step in a World Cup year rather than getting too far ahead of ourselves,” he said.
A squad of between 32 and 35 players will be named on Saturday night after the Vodacom United Rugby Championship final between the DHL Stormers and Munster at DHL Stadium for a training camp that will take place next week and mark the more intensified start to the preparations for the international season.
“We don’t want to announce the group before the final as that can sometimes impact on the focus of the players and we are eager to see the Stormers do well,” said Erasmus.
URC Final
Erasmus reckons that the DHL Stormers will have their work cut out to beat Munster in Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship final but both his heart and his mind are telling him that John Dobson’s team will prevail and make it back to back titles.
Erasmus and Nienaber both have links to Munster after coaching there for two years (2016 and 2017) before returning to South Africa to take up their current roles and they also coached the Stormers before that so they both have intimate knowledge of the culture of both protagonists in the final.
Indeed, it was Erasmus who first appointed Dobson to a coaching role at Western Province, with the current Stormers coach winning the national under-21 competition at his first attempt.
“That was when Dobbo and Dawie Snyman (Stormers assistant coach) came into the system. If my memory is correct, Dobbo had won the Varsity Cup with UCT before that and that was where he first started to show his abilities and promise as a coach. He won the under-21 tournament at his first attempt and I think he did the same at Vodacom Cup level, and of course he also won the URC at first attempt so that says a lot about him as a coach.
“I really have to compliment him for the work he has done at the Stormers. I coached the Stormers myself and know how difficult it is to deal with the environment here. Players here sometimes used to put going to the J and B Met horse race or kite surfing above their rugby, but Dobson understands the culture and the Cape environment and really done a quite remarkable job in taking the Stormers to where they are now.
Introducing your Grand Finalists… ?
Who’s lifting THAT beautiful trophy? ?@Vodacom #URC | #UnitedWeRise | #STOvMUN pic.twitter.com/WDnmheutwT
— Vodacom United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial_RSA) May 26, 2023
“He been clever and also quite brave in his selections and hasn’t complained when he has had to rest his Springboks. There have been several times this past season where I thought the Stormers might be in trouble because they were missing several key players to either injury or Bok resting protocols and yet they have just knuckled down and won anyway. They’ve done what we have been working towards at the Springboks by creating the kind of depth where it is possible for Frans Malherbe to miss a game and they don’t miss a beat because the replacement player produces.”