Why captain Kolisi was 'axed'
REACTION: Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber revealed why he opted to drop Siyamthanda Kolisi as captain for this Saturday’s second Test against Wales.
The coach made 14 changes to the Springboks team who secured a 32-29 win over Wales last weekend at Loftus Versfeld.
There are loads of questions surrounding the team selection.
However, one that has dominated the headlines is the omission of the Bok skipper, Kolisi.
Over the years, Kolisi’s position in the team has been highly debated – especially given the number of quality loose forwards in South Africa.
Unlike the Bulls duo of Marcell Coetzee and Elrigh Louw or the Stormers pair of Deon Fourie and Evan Roos, Kolisi had an average United Rugby Championship season.
The 31-year-old was also replaced in the 51st minute during the Boks’ first Test last Saturday.
Making sense of Kolisi’s absence, Nienaber was quick to point out it was part of the Springboks’ objective as they prepare for next year’s World Cup.
“We are not giving Siya a ‘rest’,” Nienaber said, adding: “We have a plan we trying to execute.
“We discussed our plans with the players from the start. They know exactly what the plan is.
“We have certain boxes we want to tick in these three Test matches and a certain goal we want to obtain without compromising performances.”
This weekend, Kolisi’s spot will be filled by Coetzee, who will be joined by uncapped Roos (No.8) and Pieter-Steph Du Toit (flank) as the loose trio.
“If you look at Pieter-Steph, he is almost the senior partner there in terms of recent experience. He was with the side last year with the British and Irish Lions and involved for a long time,” Nienaber said.
“Marcell is an experienced guy. He has 30 Test caps, so he knows what international rugby is about. However, he hasn’t been in our environment since 2019. Evan has obviously been on form and playing well for his franchise in the URC.
“Pieter-Steph will probably calm them down and calm the nerves.
“Marcell knows what it is about at the international level and then feeding the experience into Evan.”
The captain’s armband has been handed to experienced campaigner Handre Pollard, who returns to the squad after not featuring in the first test.
“Siya and Handre work closely together and complement each other,” Nienaber said.
“Siya brings the calm leadership style, while Handre is a little bit more detail orientated and will make sure he knows almost everybody’s role on the field.
“Not that Siya doesn’t focus on detail.
“And I think Handre knows that he probably will have to bring a little bit of what Siya brings to the party, as a leader.”
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