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Kolisi faces up to losing Bok captaincy ahead of return from surgery

Siya Kolisi of South Africa looks on during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between England and South Africa at Stade de France on October 21, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

Siya Kolisi has admitted that he knew his captaincy of South Africa was in jeopardy when he agreed to join Racing 92 in France.

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The double World Cup-winning skipper joined the Top 14 outfit from the Sharks after lifting his second Webb Ellis Cup last year, and recently said that there is nothing he can do to continue leading the Springboks if head coach Rassie Erasmus has decided to select a captain based on South African soil. That is a move that Erasmus revealed he is considering.

Despite being at the helm of the Springboks’ success over the past five years, the 32-year-old is phlegmatic about the captaincy situation with a series against Guinness Six Nations champions Ireland on the horizon for the world champions in July.

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“That’s normal. I knew that before making the decision to come here,” Kolisi told reporters.

“He (Erasmus) speaks and he says this is the situation, it is what it is, there’s nothing I can do about that,” he added.

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In more pressing matters, Kolisi is set to make a timely return to action this weekend to face Toulouse in the Investec Champions Cup round of 16.

The 83-cap Springbok has been out of action for a month after undergoing a procedure for a hand injury sustained in a 21-5 loss to Bordeaux-Begles. In his absence, the Parisian outfit have strung together three wins on the bounce, but he will nevertheless be a boost to the team before facing the five-time European champions.

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“I feel good, my hand is good,” he said.

“I went to see the doctor to see the specialist and he was happy with the healing of my hand.

“I just want to be on the field. I tried to play last week but the coaches, management and doctors said I must wait for this week.”

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2 Comments
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Shaun 233 days ago

Very simple, follow what we have been doing since Rassie took over in 2018. If Kolisi cant be the face of the team, he can definately give his input on the field, so Can Eben, so can Handre, its been like that a while. Kolisi admitted to Vermeulen calling a number of the shots when he was unsure, there is nothing wrong with that, cause a captain will make all the calls and decide himself, a leader will discuss with his team and decide together.

J
Joseph 233 days ago

Siya is our captain. He’s 32 years old and there are a lot of hungry guys coming through. He’s probably got another 2 seasons at test level and I’d like to see him remain captain for as long as he’s good enough to make the team.

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Hellhound 30 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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