Kolisi captain for World Cup, interim captains set for Rugby Championship

Siya Kolisi will remain the Springbok captain for the World Cup, with a few different interim captains set to be named for the Rugby Championship according to coach Jacques Nienaber and SA Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus.

At a recent Springbok press conference both Nienaber and Erasmus said that Kolisi was hitting all of his recovery targets and they expected him back on the field in their world cup warm up games, reiterating their belief that he would lead them at the showpiece event.

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“We mentioned it last time. Siya will stay as our captain for the World Cup until he is ruled out, until medically they say this guy will not make it. So he will stay as our captain and we will use interim captains,” said Nienaber.

“We have discussed it with the players and they know that it is going to be like that. So we will use interim captains during the Rugby Championship.

“It is pretty similar to what happened in 2019. Siya wasn’t available for the Rugby Championship and he only started playing in the last game of that year’s competition when he came off the bench. So in terms of that it is clear to the players what we are doing.”

Players in line

There are a number of players in line to captain the Boks in the absence of Kolisi, but it is a decision that they will not be rushed into according to Erasmus, with him adding that they may even have a few different captains during the Rugby Championship.

“We have a lot of options. Steven Kitshoff and both the hookers could be captain. You could have Eben (Etzebeth) as captain. Pieter-Steph (du Toit) has been Springbok captain, Duane (Vermeulen) has been Springbok captain. Damian de Allende has been vice captain, Lukhanyo (Am) has been captain at his franchise,” said Erasmus.

“So in terms of determining how we tackle the first two matches (of the Rugby Championship) in terms of our strategy we might have two different captains in the first two Test matches.

“Because the Rugby Championship is so condensed in a Rugby World Cup year and for us to play against Australia here and then fly to New Zealand through those time zones and try and beat them the next weekend, it’s almost impossible.

“So we will definitely split our resources there and that might also bring two different captains into play. So we don’t want to speculate now, four weeks out from our first Test match, who will be captain. We are still busy sorting out injuries and other things like that. There are six or seven guys who are in the mix.”