The Springboks need a new captain and coach Rassie Erasmus weet nog nie watse kant toe nie.
On Wednesday, Erasmus revealed that regular captain Siya Kolisi will miss their opening Rugby Championship clash against Australia because of a long-standing knee injury and will also sit out the team’s visit to New Zealand the following week.
Erasmus explains: “We will probably a bit conservative with Siya to make sure he is ready for the World Cup, which is the most important part of the year.
Week #2 💪
Springbok training camp 🏋️♀️
Loftus, Pretoria #LoveRugby🏉🇿🇦 @Official_Bozza @SuperSportTV pic.twitter.com/LLL3AoYOkK
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 1, 2019
“We will wait for the results of his scans on Friday, and then we will take it from there and see what the return to play protocol will be.
“Siya will be training with us until we leave for New Zealand and then he will probably stay behind to play one or two Currie Cup games.
“Thereafter, we plan to get him back into playing Test match rugby, hopefully in the match against Argentina on 17 August, and then it’s... Japan.
“I think if we push him now to go with us to New Zealand, we might end up with more than a 50 percent chance that he won’t go with us to the World Cup.”
INJURED: Siya Kolisi will be put on ice until the Curry Cup due to his knee injury. Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters.
Of who might captain the Boks in the absence of Kolisi, Erasmus adds: “We have a few players who need game time, who we want to consider for captaincy.
“Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit haven’t played a lot lately, both need game time and might be considered for the captaincy, while we also have the likes of Duane Vermeulen, Steven Kitshoff and Malcolm Marx, all of whom have captained their respective franchise teams this season.
The Springboks will play their only two home Tests in 2019 in Joburg and Pretoria, with the first round of a shortened Castle Lager Rugby Championship on 20 July at Emirates Airline Park against Australia and an additional Test against Argentina on 17 August at Loftus Versfeld. pic.twitter.com/SRBW4Hc19o
— Springboks (@Springboks) December 10, 2018
“Depending how things will go after Siya’s scan results and Eben’s X-ray [for his hand], we will make that call on Monday.
“We have some good options compared to last year in terms of candidates for the captaincy.”