On Tuesday, Springbok rugby coach Rassie Erasmus expressed uncertainty on whether Siya Kolisi, the double World Cup-winning captain, would continue leading the team.
During a press conference in Cape Town, Erasmus stated that Kolisi would be considered for selection to play for South Africa despite his contract with Racing 92 in France. However, he did not guarantee that Kolisi would retain his position as captain..
Erasmus, the South African national rugby team coach, stated that Siya Kolisi did not sign the contract clause that would exempt him from international rugby, which indicates his desire to play for his country. Erasmus added that Kolisi will be considered for selection and may play some Test matches. Kolisi, currently 32 years old, captained the Springboks to victory in the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups. However, he will be 36 years old when the next World Cup takes place in 2027.
Erasmus said he preferred to have a captain who was based in South Africa; “it would be great to give the guy a call and spend the weekend together to discuss plans,” but he needed to know whether it was “doable” for Kolisi to continue in the role.
Erasmus said he had a good idea of which players would remain in contention for the 2027 World Cup defence, but added that older players remained part of his short-term plans.
“We know exactly which players we think can last another year and we have given them specific tasks to help the youngsters before they leave here,” he said.
Need to evolve
The Springboks open their 2024 campaign with a match against Wales at Twickenham in London on June 22.
They then have a two-match home series against Ireland in Pretoria on July 6 and Durban on July 13.
Erasmus said he would call on his most experienced players for the match between the teams ranked one and two in the world.
Ireland were the only team to beat the Springboks during the World Cup, winning an epic battle 13-8 in Paris.
“We haven’t beaten Ireland since 2016, so we want to rectify that,” said Erasmus.
Erasmus said new Springbok assistant coaches Tony Brown (attack) and Jerry Flannery (defence) would bring new thinking to the team.
“As we said before last year’s tournament, there was no way we would be successful if we kept doing things in the same way. We need to evolve our game once more, as teams will have looked at how we play and how they think they can stop us.”
Former All-Black Brown said he jumped at the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting players in the world.
“When Rassie called, I immediately said ‘yes’,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to spending time with the players to see what we can do to find those little things that we can add to our attacking plans. If we get our coaching right, the Springboks will be a dominant force.”
Flannery, a former Irish international rugby player, has previously worked with Erasmus at Munster in Ireland. Recently, he expressed his positive impressions about the players at a recent alignment camp. According to Flannery, he was impressed with the way the players listened attentively and focused on the coaches while they were speaking. He believes that this indicates that the players are deeply committed to the sport and are eager to improve.
