Kolisi not hanging up his Bok boots just yet: ‘I want to play’

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says that he wants to keep playing for the Boks in the future, even though he is set to move to France in the coming weeks where he will link up with new team Racing 92 in Paris.

The Boks arrived back in South Africa on Tuesday from their successful World Cup campaign in France, where they made history on a number of fronts.

Watch: World Cup-winning Springboks return to SA

At a press briefing held at the airport the 32-year-old Kolisi was quizzed on whether he would still make himself available to play for the Boks, despite playing his franchise rugby in France going forward and if he would like to remain as captain of the team.

Next Bok coach

He said that decision would not be up to him but rather the next Bok coach, who will only be announced in due course, as coach Jacques Nienaber moves onto Irish giants Leinster where he will be taking up the head coaching role.

“Nothing will change for me (with the Boks). I will still be up for selection because I really want to continue to play,” explained Kolisi.

“On being captain I am not sure. I am not the coach. What matters to me the most is as long as I can put on the Springbok jersey, it doesn’t matter whether I am captain or not. So as long as I am available for selection and get selected that’s all I care about.

ALSO READ: The moment Siya Kolisi arrived back home with the World Cup

“I am looking forward to the new journey (in France) and hopefully it will go well. But for now we just want to enjoy being home, and enjoy being back to back double world champions.”

Changing of the guard

Kolisi was questioned on whether this would be a good time for the changing of the guard on the captaincy front and if he had thought about handing it over to the next generation of players going forward.

“I haven’t really thought about that (letting go of the captaincy). The most important thing on my mind has been the World Cup,” said Kolisi.

“But as I said earlier, being Springbok captain is obviously huge, especially for the country. But for me I have only got a small role to play (as captain) in the team. I have guys like Eben (Etzebeth), Duane (Vermeulen) and all the other leaders in the group who are in charge of their parts of the game.

“Whoever is Springbok captain is always going to have the most support (from the players). They will fit in like a glove. It is all about what you do with that. As long as I put on the Springbok jersey I am happy.”