'He's ticking his boxes': Boks bullish about Kolisi for World Cup

The Springboks' big bosses Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber expect captain Siya Kolisi to be fit for the Rugby World Cup.

Kolisi is in a race against time to recover for the tournament that kicks off on September 8, with the Springboks' first match two days later. The Bok captain underwent surgery to an anterior cruciate knee ligament which experts say requires nine months to fully recover.

Erasmus, SA Rugby's director of rugby, and Nienaber, the Springbok coach, were bullish about Kolisi's prospects, saying he is hitting his targets in recovery.

Nienaber, despite his medical background, did not really want to be drawn into the nature of Kolisi's injury and how long he might be in recovery.

“In where he needs to be with regards to recovery and rehabilitation, I think he's on track and he's hitting his markers.

“There will be specific markers in where he needs to be on a specific day and ticking boxes, but he's now ticking his boxes.

“When he'll return will depend on how he's ticking his markers, but do we think he'll be ready for the World Cup? Yes, we do.”

He reminded that Kolisi did not play in matches until the Argentina game in Pretoria before the Boks winning the 2019 World Cup in Japan. Encouragingly, Kolisi has the muscle memory from being in more or less the same boat four years ago. He proved his fitness and played the last warm-up Test against Japan just before the tournament.

“Siya's a guy who’s done it before and we'll give him enough time because history has shown us he doesn't need Test match time before a World Cup. He can slot in and produce performances.”

Kolisi will be wrapped in cotton wool for as long as possible and may see little action at the start of the tournament. The Springboks kick off their World Cup defence against Scotland in Marseille before an engagement against Romania in Bordeaux and their crunch clash against Ireland in Paris.

They then return to Marseille for a clash against Tonga. Erasmus said it is worth waiting for Kolisi.

“The bottom line is he's our captain and we won't replace him in that role. We'll have stand-ins.

“With the three warm-up games we have, we believe in the way he's hitting those markers, he may feature in one of those.

“Even if he's not 100% ready for the Scotland Test, it's a long way away from the World Cup final. With him being our captain, having been there and done that, it's maybe the match before the World Cup.

“If he's hitting the markers, which he's now doing, and we can get him with the conditioning team and we’re almost match fit in how we simulate training, he's the kind of guy who can do it before the World Cup. We're fairly confident he can go to the World Cup.”

While Erasmus suggested Kolisi will be given enough to play his way into World Cup, he highlighted the defending champions need to hit the deck running.

There has been huge focus on their potential pool decider against Ireland in Paris, but Erasmus drew attention to their first match.

“Everyone is talking about our game against Ireland, but we need to win that opening game. Scotland will be difficult. They have big South African representation. How must they feel with everyone talking about the Ireland game?

“If we beat Scotland it just gives us much more breathing space for the rest of the pool stages.”

The Springboks lost their opening match against the All Blacks in 2019 in Yokohama, but then did something no other team had done before at the World Cup — won all their remaining games en route to the title.

“This year is a little different though. If we lose the first one we still have to play Ireland, who play Scotland in their last pool match.”

It clearly isn't the route Erasmus and Nienaber envisaged for their team. If they make it through the pool stages and come up against the All Blacks or France in the quarterfinals. Erasmus is loath to announce his wish list.

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