Captain Kolisi available for Welsh warm-up with fully fit Springbok squad

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is set to make his return from injury when his side takes on Wales in their second Rugby World Cup warm-up match at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff next Saturday.

Kolisi, who suffered a serious knee injury playing for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship back in April, was the big name included in the Boks’ 33-man World Cup squad that was named on Tuesday afternoon.

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But in a massive blow three members of the 2019 World Cup winning team – Handre Pollard, Lukhanyo Am and Lood de Jager – were left out due to injury.

Nienaber explained that the management wasn’t going to take any risks and wanted to name a fully fit squad that would be available for the final two World Cup warm-up matches, so as to build momentum going into the showpiece event.

That includes Kolisi and Ox Nche, who was injured before the Rugby Championship and subsequently ruled out of the past four games, but both are back in full training and available for selection.

Fully fit squad

“If you look at the squad that we have selected, the one key thing is that every player that has been selected would be able to play a Test match this Saturday. So we went with a fully fit squad,” explained Nienaber.

“We have been part of World Cup squads before where that wasn’t the case and you had to carry guys who couldn’t train in the week and were nursing niggles.

“But all 33 players are ready to go. That includes Siya who is available for selection against Wales.”

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The remaining nine players from the Boks’ 42-man preliminary squad have been placed on a standby list in case of any injuries.

Five of those players will be traveling with the main squad to the UK for games against Wales and the All Blacks, with the injured Pollard and Am the headline names in that group, along with Joseph Dweba, Thomas du Toit and Jean-Luc du Preez.

Evan Roos, Herschel Jantjies, De Jager and Gerhard Steenekamp are the other four standby players who will not travel for the warm-ups.