‘I just want to play’ — Bok captain Siya Kolisi fired up for return to action

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is fired up and ready to make a stunning return to play from a serious knee injury when his side battles it out against Wales in their World Cup warm-up clash at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 4:15pm).

It has been a highly publicised recovery process for Kolisi, ever since he was injured playing in the United Rugby Championship with the Sharks, which saw him go under the knife which put him in danger of missing the World Cup.

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Despite the odds being stacked heavily against him, Kolisi managed to smash every recovery target asked of him and he now has the chance to get himself match fit and game ready ahead of the showpiece event.

“I just want to play and I want to give everything that I can. I was told by the coaches I must put it all out there for as long as I can and they will then take me off, whether it is early in the first half, at halftime or in the second half,” said Kolisi at the pre-match press conference on Friday.

“We will just have to see how long I can last. So my role doesn’t change, I just have to play as hard as I can for as long as I can.”

Miraculous return

With many terming Kolisi’s return miraculous, it has sparked fears about whether he will be able to hold up and not reinjure the knee, which would rule him out of the World Cup, however that is not something that he is thinking about.

“I am going to go into the game with full confidence. There is always that little bit of doubt (at the back of your mind) but I can’t think about that. I and everybody that has worked on my knee has given everything in our power for me to get to this point,” said Kolisi.

“Whatever happens tomorrow, I have peace in my heart that I have given myself the best chance to be here. So I am not thinking about that (reinjury), if it happens it happens.

“In the end that doesn’t matter because I have given everything that I possibly could. So I am not walking in fear but with confidence because I feel really good.”

Perfect opportunity

Looking at the match, Kolisi admitted it is the perfect opportunity for the Boks to start picking up some confidence ahead of the World Cup.

“Our focus as a team is to just build momentum going into the World Cup. Obviously Wales is the focus (this weekend) but we want to make sure that we start building momentum and work on our combinations,” said Kolisi.

“Over the past couple of games the team has been changed so many times because the coaches wanted to give every single guy an opportunity to prove themselves and try and make the World Cup squad.

“Now that the squad is picked it’s about building those strong combinations going forward.”