Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber and Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus consider that captain Siya Kolisi will be match and raring to go for the Rugby World Cup kicking off in France in September.
Kolisi suffered a critical knee harm throughout the Sharks’ ultimate pool match of this season’s United Rugby Championship in opposition to Munster and needed to endure surgical procedure which put his World Cup aspirations in jeopardy.
Asked at a Springbok media convention on Thursday whether or not they believed Kolisi would make it to France, each Nienaber and Erasmus had been within the affirmative.
‘He is on track’
“In terms of where he has to be from a recovery and rehab point of view he is on track and currently hitting his markers. If he manages to keep ticking all his boxes medically we believe he will be ready for the World Cup,” mentioned Nienaber.
“If we return to 2019, Siya didn’t take part in any matches all through the Rugby Championship as a result of he was additionally carrying an harm. We performed him within the Argentina Test off the bench and his first begin was in that heat up sport in opposition to Japan simply earlier than the World Cup.
“So from that perspective Siya is a guy who has done it before and we will give him as much time as possible (to prove his fitness). History has shown us he doesn’t need to play Tests before a World Cup to come in and produce performances.”
Bok captain
Erasmus backed up Nienaber’s assertion, explaining that Kolisi was their captain and that they backed him to lead the Boks at the showpiece occasion.
“The bottom line is that he is our captain and we won’t be replacing him as yet. We will have stand-in captains because at this stage with the three warm up games that we have (before the World Cup), we are hoping that with the way he is hitting those markers he will play in one of those matches,” defined Erasmus.
“Even if he isn’t 100% prepared for the Scotland (opening World Cup) Test match, it’s nonetheless an extended option to the ultimate of the World Cup.
“With him being our captain and having been there and done that, he is the one person we can say if he can play in maybe the match before the World Cup, he can still make it. So we are fairly confident he will make the World Cup.”
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