Siya Kolisi will make his return to the Springbok fold against Argentina at Loftus on Saturday in an effort to show coach Rassie Erasmus he is fit to go to the World Cup.
Kolisi hasn’t played for the Rugby Championship champions this season, having picked up a knee injury during Super Rugby, but featured for Western Province in the Currie Cup last weekend.
And upon arrival from Argentina at OR Tambo International on Monday, Erasmus said: “We won’t fast-track him [Kolisi] into Test rugby, but we are desperate to have him involved in the World Cup.
“Siya came through uninjured last weekend, so he’ll definitely be involved this weekend.
“He’ll play a limited number of minutes as we build him up slowly for the World Cup. We’re not going to rush anything.”
EASY DOES IT: Coach Erasmus. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix.
Of the other injured players still hoping to make the squad, Erasmus says: “Some guys are in a race against time.
“Damian [Willemse] will probably play a few minutes this week, Aphiwe [Dyantyi] might play next week and Warren [Whiteley] will now struggle to make the squad.”
Of his squad selection for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up clash, the coach adds: “I’m going to mix and match the team for this weekend’s Test, but it’s still going to be a strong team.
“We want to keep the momentum going so it’s important that we win and play well. It’s our last game before we go to Japan and we want to go on a high.”
The World Cup squad will be named August 26.