Kolisi, Kolbe fitness race leaves Boks sweating before RGR rematch
REACTION: Springbok wing Cheslin Kolbe’s injury has been upgraded from a cramp to something more serious, according to coach Rassie Erasmus.
The coach told reporters on Monday that the winger was struggling with a hamstring as well as an ankle injury.
“He is still in amber (means a player has medium-to-serious doubt surrounding their availability to play) and we might make a change there, but at this stage I don’t think it will be,” the coach explained after the team announcement.
The Boks are also holding thumbs for captain Siya Kolisi to come through training on Monday to give him a shot at the All Blacks in Cape Town. Kolisi suffered a hamstring strain 20 minutes into the game against Argentina in Buenos Aires early in August.
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According to Erasmus, the captain still had a bit of a niggle on Sunday, so he wasn’t sure if he will be available, which is why Kolisi was bracketed with Paul de Villiers in the team that was announced on Monday.
Should Kolisi recover and end up playing, De Villiers, who was one of the standouts at Ellis Park, will drop out of the match-day 23.
“I think Paul did really well and there is no reason why we should keep him out.
“But Siya is our captain. And he has other strengths, one of which is sorting out the attacking breakdowns, which is an area we struggled with.
“And he is really good at getting us width on defence. He and Pieter-Steph are really good together – we called it the gates,” and added, “We just couldn’t get them out of the breakdown when we were in good attacking positions and Siya is really good at that.
“That was definitely something which we lacked.
“But Paul will get better. He has only played four matches. So, I think Siya will help us in those two areas.”
Canan Moodie (hamstring) and Grant Williams (ankle) were not considered for the match in Cape Town.
