Reuters 26 Could 2023, 07:29 two minutes study
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi suffered a knee injury whilst playing for the Sharks and is on a fitness run ahead of the 2023 Rugby Planet Cup.David Rogers/Getty Pictures
South Africa are confident captain Siya Kolisi will be match for the Planet Cup right after undergoing knee surgery final month and will give him as a lot time as achievable to be match even if he misses the opening games.
Kolisi suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury playing for the Sharks against Munster in the United Rugby Championship final month, but according to South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber, he is “going all the way” in terms of recovery.
He mentioned Kolisi was properly on his way to becoming prepared for the Planet Cup, which begins in France in September and will see South Africa defend the trophy Kolisi lifted in Japan 4 years ago.
“You keep in mind that Siya was injured even then and did not play most of the preparations for the tournament. He did not handle the group when we won the rugby championship that year, and from memory he just played. bench in our final warm-up test in Pretoria ahead of we leave and then he played in the game we played against Japan in Japan two weeks ahead of the tournament began,” Nienaber mentioned at a press conference on Thursday.
“We’ve been by way of this ahead of and we know that Siya can play in the Planet Cup and lead the group properly, simply because it occurred in 2019.
South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus mentioned he hoped Kolisi could be match for one particular of the warm-up tests against Argentina, Wales and New Zealand.
Kolisi will be left till the tournament to prove his mettle due to his important function in the group. “He is our captain,” mentioned Erasmus. “We are undertaking this simply because he is the captain. Even if he misses the 1st game against Scotland,” Erasmus mentioned.
South Africa will continue their preparations for France with a camp in Pretoria subsequent week and name a squad of 32 to 35 players right after Saturday’s URC final involving the Stormers and Munster in Cape Town.
This will be followed two weeks later by the final squad for this year’s Rugby Championship, exactly where the Boks take on Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa open their Planet Cup defense against Scotland on September ten in Marseille.