New captain for the Springboks against All Blacks?
· The South African
The Springboks may once again find themselves with captain Siya Kolisi on the sidelines after he was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s game in Buenos Aires in the first half, having suffered another hamstring injury on the eve of the four-Test series against the All Blacks.
Kolisi was making his comeback from a hamstring injury that ruled him out of all three July Tests, and now he is said to have strained his other hamstring.
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Although the exact severity of the new injury has not been confirmed as yet, hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky to manage, and generally require cautious treatment.
It may mean that the Springboks head into the All Blacks Test series without Kolisi available, and needing to consider who would be the best stand-in captain.
Who are the candidates to lead the Springboks against the All Blacks if Kolisi is unavailable?
Pieter-Steph du Toit led the team well during the July Tests, and it’s likely that he would be the frontrunner to captain the team if Kolisi was sidelined for at least the start of the series.
Eben Etzebeth stepped in as captain when Kolisi withdrew from the game in Buenos Aires, and the big lock also has the experience to take on a leadership role if need be.
The third candidate would most likely be Jesse Kriel, who captained the team in three Tests last year, and was a popular choice with Rassie Erasmus.
After Saturday’s Test, Kolisi admitted it would now be a waiting game to see what scans revealed about the latest hamstring strain.
“I hurt my hamstring again, unfortunately. So, I’ll go for a scan and see how bad it is,” he said during a post-match interview.
“It is really tough, but I can’t be sad about it,” the skipper added. “There is nothing I can do now, other than to go and have a scan and then see how long I’m out for.”
Squad cover
It does seem the Springboks have prepared for the need to have back up for Kolisi after Erasmus called up veteran utility forward Deon Fourie to the national squad for the forthcoming Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The 39-year-old Fourie, who is most comfortable at openside flank, will join up with the squad in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.
The Rugby World Cup-winner will add invaluable experience to Erasmus’ forwards for the historic series, which kicks off at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday, 22 August.
The match will mark the first of four Tests between the teams in the inaugural series, which will also see the teams meet at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town (29 August), the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (5 September), and the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (12 September).