The Springboks are assessing Siya Kolisi’s availability for the clash against the All Blacks in Cape Town, as they delayed their team announcement until Thursday. Dylan Jack reports.
The Boks lost captain Kolisi and winger Kurt-Lee Arendse in quick succession during the 31-27 win over New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park.
Arendse was knocked out early in the second half while trying to tackle All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane and was immediately escorted from the field to undergo a head-impact assessment (HIA).
Soon after, Kolisi suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone after being tackled by All Blacks flank Sam Cane. Though Kolisi tried to battle on, he was substituted at the start of the final quarter.
During a press conference in Cape Town today, assistant coach Daan Human said that the Springboks are still hopeful that Kolisi could face the All Blacks on Saturday.
“So far, they are still busy assessing the possibility of him being available to for us in the week,” Human said.
“We will see how he goes through this week. He’s important for us, but if he’s not [available], then next man in.”
The Springboks were originally scheduled to announce their team tomorrow at midday, but have now postponed that announcement to Thursday morning.
“I don’t think there’s a particular reason,” Human said. “Let me put it this way, Rassie will answer that one.”
Cane’s tackle appears not to have gone down well in the Bok camp. During the match, referee Andrew Brace told Kolisi that the tackle was checked by the TMO and ruled as only warranting a penalty.
The All Blacks flanker will not be cited, as the decision has been made that the tackle did not reach the red card threshold.
“It was a proper knock,” Human said. “I can’t go into what the refs and the TMO saw. We’ve just seen what we’ve seen. Hopefully Siya can recover soon and be fit to play the game.
“It’s up to them what they decide, if it was a red card or a yellow card. I don’t think we will ever go into the ref’s decisions or World Rugby’s decisions on that. It’s in the past and we are looking forward to Saturday.”
This article first appeared in SA Rugby magazine.
