Kolisi makes a return after sustaining a hamstring strain right before the opening Nations Championship clash against England at Ellis Park.
Regular Springbok captain Siya Kolisi stretches with the help of the Springboks’ head of athletic performance Andy Edwards during the South Africa Captain’s Run ahead of the 2026 Nations Championship match against England last month. He was withdrawn from the game just minutes before kick-off. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images
Out of the five Springboks returning from injury against Argentina on Saturday night, Siya Kolisi is the one player coach Rassie Erasmus has the fewest concerns about.
Kolisi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Morné van den Berg have all been out for between one and three months, whereas locks Eben Etzebeth (concussion) and Lood de Jager (hip surgery) have each only played one match for their franchises in 2026.
All five were named to play in the Springboks’ one-off Test in Buenos Aires. Four start, and scrumhalf Van den Berg set to replace Cobus Reinach from the bench.
Injuries nothing new to Kolisi
Kolisi suffered a hamstring strain that saw him withdrawn just minutes before the kick-off of the opening Nations Championship Test against England at Ellis Park last month.
Though 35 years old, Erasmus pointed to Kolisi’s famous recoveries from a knee injury before the 2019 World Cup and a lengthy ACL and knee injury before the 2023 World Cup, playing the majority of the games in both.
Erasmus backed him to fit in seamlessly, having gone through it all before.
“Because of his age and experience with injuries… you learn how to deal with those injuries and you get better every single time [you return],” the Springbok coach said.
“You know how to rehab, how to handle the pressure and frustrations you go through.
“Siya’s experienced with that. He does his rehab on time. With our experiences, we’ve never been unsure about Siya. He’s always delivered.”
But Erasmus had his contingency, with impact player Marco van Staden on the bench.
“As long as he’s [Kolisi’s] productive and delivers on the field, we want to get maximum minutes. But that will probably be a half, or a little bit more than a half.”
Lock replacements
Regarding the dip in depth at lock – with Franco Mostert, RG Snyman, Jean Kleyn, Ruan Venter and Salmaan Moerat injured, and Pieter-Steph du Toit, Ruben van Heerden and Ruan Nortjé being rested for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series – Erasmus opted for regular flanker Ben-Jason Dixon and Cobus Wiese to cover for Etzebeth and De Jager, respectively.
These will be straight substitutions, with Wiese calling lineouts after De Jager.
