Siya Kolisi says he is confident that he will be ready for the World Cup, as he continues his recovery from a knee injury in the Springbok camp in Pretoria.

The Springbok captain went under the knife last month after suffering a knee ligament injury while in action for the Sharks in the final round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

During a media session on Tuesday afternoon, Kolisi was asked for an update on his progress.

“The nice thing is that I have been here before. I have been through this, so I know that I’ve just got to take each day [as it comes]. But I am confident that I will be fine.”

It is the second time that Kolisi has been placed in a race against time to prove his fitness for the World Cup. In 2019, he also suffered a knee ligament injury while playing a Super Rugby for the Stormers, but recovered to play in a couple of warm-up matches against Argentina and Japan.

Kolisi said that being part of the camp has helped him stay upbeat, as he has also been able to touch base with Handre Pollard, RG Snyman and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who have all had similarly lengthy layoffs.

“[My] rehab is going well. I am working hard. It is great to be working in the team environment. It helps a lot on the mental side, just to see the work that is happening. I think if I wasn’t here I would actually miss out on a lot that the group is doing.

“It’s really good to be doing the rehab here, because I’ve got guys that I can lean on, like RG, Handre and Pieter-Steph, who I’ve been speaking with a lot. They’ve done knees as well, so it’s been really good.”