Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was pleased with the performance of Siya Kolisi after the flanker’s first Test start in 2019.
Having made his return from injury for Western Province last weekend, Kolisi produced a solid 50 minute performance before he was replaced by Marco van Staden.
Asked what he thought of Kolisi’s performance, Erasmus was quick to praise the Springbok captain, who was initially set to play a cameo role in the 24-18 victory over Argentina at Loftus.
‘No, obviously Siya, wonderful. We wanted to put Siya on for 30 minutes and see how he lasts, but then Marcell [Coetzee] also got injured,’ said Erasmus after the game.
Having consulted Kolisi at half time, Erasmus noted that he had received confirmation that Kolisi was feeling great and ‘wanted to go for 70 [minutes]’.
‘I think after 60 or 50 though, you could just see he was really struggling a bit, but medically he’s fine so that’s a great thing.’
After confirming that Kolisi would lead the Boks at the World Cup in Japan next month if medically-fit, Erasmus will be happy that Kolisi got through a good amount of minutes unscathed.
‘We are really fast-tracking Siya in a big way. From 50 minutes of Currie Cup, into Test match rugby, because we know what we have in him and he is our captain.
‘I guess the next one is to now condition him well in terms of match fitness. We’re going to try and simulate that a lot. I think he’s good to go for the World cup, and we’ll give him some proper game time in the Japanese game.’
The Boks play a final World Cup warm-up game against the hosts in Saitama on 6 September before opening their campaign against New Zealand on 21 September.
Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix
