Twenty-four minutes since 8 August, and that is the whole story
That is all the rugby Siya Kolisi has played for South Africa in a month. Twenty-four minutes against Argentina, then off. The hamstring again.
Rassie Erasmus says that ends next weekend. Speaking the day after the 33-16 loss to the All Blacks at Ellis Park, the head coach put his captain back in the frame for Cape Town.
“I thought Paul de Villiers played very well,” Erasmus said. “But I know Siya is back next week.”
The two-time World Cup-winning skipper has been managing the hamstring since the 2026 international season opened. He sat out the entire Nations Championship in July.
Try it for $0.99.
Erasmus picked the long game over the quick fix
Kolisi trained normally all week. He was available. The staff went with Paul de Villiers at blindside anyway.
“Siya trained well with us this week and we could have picked him for this game, but we felt it was better to go with Paul,” Erasmus explained. “We have four Tests against the All Blacks and Paul is playing well. We wanted to give him his chance for his first Test against New Zealand, while managing Siya’s return carefully.”
The Stormers flanker has made a decent case for keeping the shirt. Pieter-Steph du Toit has carried the armband in the meantime. Kolisi, who left the Sharks for the Stormers ahead of this season, gets his comeback in front of a home crowd in Cape Town.
Cramp, a mouthguard, and two other selection headaches
Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse both came off before the final whistle on Saturday. Erasmus was not worried about the first. “It was more cramps than anything else.” Kolbe had taken the goalkicking duties ahead of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Arendse’s exit was more mundane. “His mouthguard came out and the match doctor would not let him back on.”
Three Tests against New Zealand remain. South Africa have lost the first, and they get their captain back for the second.
Discover more rugby news on our website and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply