VIDEO: Bok boss reveals the extent of Siya's injury
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Rassie Erasmus revealed why captain Siya Kolisi is able to lead his side in the Rugby Championship Round Four clash against the All Blacks on Saturday, despite sustaining a facial fracture.
Kolisi sustained a facial injury in a collision with All Black Sam Cane in the 31-27 win over New Zealand at Ellis Park last weekend.
The skipper looked set to miss the fixture in Cape Town.
However, he has been ruled fit after taking part in all the training sessions and will lead the side for the 58th time on Saturday.
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Speaking to reporters at the hotel in Cape Town, Springbok coach Erasmus confirmed that Kolisi fractured his nose and not his cheek as he initially stated in the post-match at Johannesburg.
“I don’t want to sound like a medical doctor so I don’t want to try and say the bones involved because I will probably pronounce it wrong, but it’s nose fracture,” Erasmus explained when asked about the severity of Kolisi’s injury.
“[Siya] had two options. He can either get it placed back now and then he is out for three weeks or the doc said he could wait two weeks and then put it back in place.”
The decision to delay getting the injury treated means that Kolisi could miss the final two games of the tournament against Los Pumas.
However, knowing the magnitude of the fixture against All Blacks in Cape Town, Erasmus said Kolisi chose to help his side’s quest to bag a win and the Rugby Championship title.
“It’s a massive Test and not just for the Rugby Championship – but playing the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium – everyone wants to be involved.
“I must say, I saw a few sad faces when I announced the team on Monday.
“I think Marco [van Staden] must be very disappointed, not only because he didn’t play in Siya’s place, but also because we didn’t go with a six-two split. The guys have handled it well.
“Siya himself wanted the option to play now and get it reset in two weeks’ time.”
#InsidetheCamp! The Springbok captain Siya Kolisi at training with his teammates ahead of the second Test against All Blacks #rugby #sports #SAvNZ @Springboks @AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/n6VEls1Bnd
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) September 4, 2024
Erasmus backed the skipper to put in a brave shift despite the injury.
“I asked Siya on Sunday, ‘Will you be going into contact?’, because his nose is sore, it was swelled up. That’s why I didn’t announce the team on Tuesday, because Siya had to get through training.
“Internally, we announced the team with him and Marco starting. On Monday, he did all the contact sessions, on Tuesday he went right through.
“The only problem would’ve been if he was hesitant about it breaking further. So yeah, he might end up looking like Kwagga [Smith].”
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There has been a lot of talk that Cane should have been cited for the high tackle that resulted in Kolisi suffering the fracture.
However, Erasmus took a different approach, stating that there was no malicious intent by Cane, who was red-carded in the World Cup Final.
“Siya’s injury obviously happened when Sam hit him,” Erasmus said.
“I will never forget when Sam broke his neck during a game against us at Ellis Park. I visited him on the Monday morning. The All Blacks had already flown back to New Zealand.
“I broke my jaw while playing in Sydney. I know how lonely it gets in a foreign country. You are alone, you don’t know how the medical aid works or how good the doctors are.
“So, we know each other a little bit closer than the other All Blacks. I had a coffee and I chatted with him. You could see he was going through a tough time. A neck injury can stop your whole career.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think he did that tackle on purpose.
“A yellow card might have been appropriate or a penalty. But I told him afterwards that we weren’t going to cite him.
“You have 12 hours after a game to cite a player. If the Citing Commissioner picked it up and thought it met the red card threshold, then he would investigate, but they went through everything and it didn’t come up.
“Sam came over and apologised. When you look at the action, yes, he could go a bit lower, but it was just a head-on-head.
“It wasn’t the shoulder. Sometimes it goes for you and against you. The poor guy was red-carded in a World Cup Final.
“It wouldn’t have been nice to see him get a red card again.”
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