Siya Kolisi still in running to keep hold of Bok captaincy

Double World Cup winning captain Siya Kolisi is still firmly in line to retain his place as the Springbok captain heading into the international season, which kicks off with a clash against Wales outside of the international Test window next weekend.

Earlier this year Bok head coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that he might be looking for a new permanent captain that would be based in South Africa, due to the difficult logistics of Kolisi playing his club rugby in France.

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However, at a Bok press conference on Thursday afternoon Erasmus hinted that Kolisi was still in the frame to retain the captaincy permanently, although that is a decision they will make before the incoming series against Ireland and Portugal next month.

Captain Du Toit?

For the Wales match it looks like Bok loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit is favourite to take the position temporarily, while Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi, who have captained the Boks previously, are also attractive options.

“We will announce a captain. To be honest with you, inside the camp the captaincy is not such a big thing. Obviously the long term captaincy is a thing. But we go into this Welsh Test without Siya,” explained Erasmus.

“We will assess him when he gets back and see how he slots in. We have two weeks after the Welsh Test match (before the first Irish Test).

“It will probably be Pieter-Steph du Toit or Eben (against Wales). It could be Bongi, but then we might want to start Malcolm (Marx) to manage his game time because if Bongi goes down in 10 minutes, Malcolm doesn’t have to play a whole 70.”

It seemed like Kolisi’s reign as Bok captain would be coming to an end due to him moving to France to join Racing 92 after the World Cup, as Erasmus said he would like to have a captain in the country so they could link up at times to discuss certain things.

However a lack of obvious candidates in the current first string Bok group could have changed the coaches mind over the past few months.

Age factor

Etzebeth is currently 32 and Mbonambi 33, and they will be 35 and 36 respectively when the next World Cup roles around, which may have given the coaching group pause in making them permanent, while other players like Du Toit and Handre Pollard, who would be normally be considered, are currently based in Japan and England respectively, so would also not be thought of as permanent options.

Despite that Erasmus is very happy with the leadership group within the Bok squad and is looking forward to the season kicking off.

“The guys are leading well. The core of the group that has been with us for four years, they understand there are youngsters around them and everyone is coaching with us and helping us,” said Erasmus.

“We will make that call (team selection) internally on Sunday night after the Bulls game and we will announce a captain for Wales (with the match day team announcement) on Tuesday.

“But when we announce the Irish squad, we will announce a (permanent) captain, and obviously Siya will be in the running if everything goes well and he is injury free.”