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Kolisi faces up to losing Bok captaincy ahead of return from surgery
By Josh Raisey
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.
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.”
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.
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.