Kolisi to continue captaining Boks … and he’s not fat — Rassie Erasmus

Double World Cup winning captain Siya Kolisi will continue to lead the Springboks for the two-Test series against Ireland kicking off at Loftus next weekend, coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.

At a Bok press conference Erasmus was asked about criticism that was levelled at Kolisi by the owner of his franchise, French giants Racing 92, Jacky Lorenzetti, who accused him of being unfit and out of shape after they were dumped out of the Top 14 in the quarterfinals.

However, Erasmus came to his players defence and admitted that he would be leading the team next weekend.

‘Siya’s not fat’

“Yeah, no, Siya will be captain and Siya will play No 6 flank. Siya’s fit and got no injury and Siya’s not fat and Siya’s not transparent,” said Erasmus with a smile, referencing some of the words used by Lorenzetti.

The question of the captaincy had been a hot topic for months, ever since the Bok coach said in an interview earlier this year that he would prefer a locally based captain, so that they could link up during the franchise season if needed to plan and catch-up on certain things.

This threw Kolisi’s captaincy future into doubt, however, in the lead up to the start of the season Erasmus said that the flanker was still in the frame to captain the side, along with other senior players like Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who led the team in their first Test against Wales.

Erasmus did not expand on whether Kolisi would continue in the role for the rest of the season, or if this was just for the Incoming Series, and if whether or not the Boks would look at other options during the season.

Injured players

Looking towards the first Irish Test, Erasmus said that the squad had a full bill of health, with 38 of the 39 players in the squad available for selection, with only eighthman Jasper Wiese unavailable due to suspension.

After the past weekend’s clash against Wales it was revealed that wings Edwill van der Merwe and Makazole Mapimpi, and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk had picked up knocks, while it was still unclear if Cheslin Kolbe and Willie le Roux would be fit due to injury and concussion respectively.

“Willie and Cheslin have both been cleared. Edwill and Makazole, we will have to manage both in training this week, but they will stand a chance of being available to face Ireland,” said Erasmus.

“Faf, we have to manage, and the only guy who is training that won’t be available is Jasper, so everyone is in line (to be selected).”

The Bok match 23 for the game at Loftus will be named on Tuesday next week.