“Ja, nee,” Rassie Erasmus said, with a wry smile. “Siya will be captain, Siya will play No 6 flank, Siya has got no injury, Siya is not fat and Siya is not transparent.”
That’s all it took for the Springbok captaincy debate to be put – seemingly – to bed by the Springbok coach in a media briefing in Pretoria yesterday.
Previously, there had been some fierce discussion as to who will skipper the world champions in the next few weeks, with the mega Test series against Ireland looming.
Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi were among the front-runners, while Pieter-Steph du Toit captained the side for a second time against Wales at Twickenham last weekend.
Earlier this year, Erasmus explained that a robust debate would ensue regarding Kolisi’s future, arguing that a locally-based player might be preferred in the role.
Interest in the topic was arguably also compounded by criticism levelled at Kolisi by Racing 92 club owner Jacky Lorenzetti, who said of the two-time world champion during the latter stages of the French Top 14 this month that the 32-year-old had “gained weight, lost shape” and “was invisible”.
Erasmus, however, has no such qualms, and yesterday’s nonchalant, matter-of-fact statement regarding Kolisi will surely be a massive confidence boost to both player and squad.
Erasmus: Siya to lead Boks against Irish.
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 26, 2024
More here: https://t.co/bnn4GauCur pic.twitter.com/i0H92wyekD
Meanwhile, it would also seem the Springbok team that will face Ireland is taking shape nicely in Erasmus’ eyes.
Last Saturday, with Kolisi watching on from the dugout, the Boks comfortably beat the Welsh while exposing some new faces to the coalface of Test rugby.
They have also been strengthened by the inclusion of Bulls players that unfortunately lost to the Glasgow Warriors in the URC final last weekend, and can include veterans from England and France in their plans.
“Willie (le Roux) is cleared,” Erasmus declared from a short list of injury concerns. “Cheslin (Kolbe) is cleared.
“Edwill (van der Merwe) and Makazole (Mapimpi), we will have to manage this week, but both stand a chance to be available against Ireland.
“Faf (de Klerk) we have to manage this week, and then the only other guy that won’t be available but who is training is Jasper (Wiese).”
The 39-man squad selected by Erasmus has, nevertheless, elicited some fierce discussion, which Erasmus acknowledged when revealing his thought process behind his picks.
Said the Bok mentor: “I can understand that people are upset about Elrigh Louw, Jean-Luc (du Preez), Siya Masuku – there is a lot – Ruben (van Heerden), Wilco Louw … all of these boys.
“Hopefully things go well against Ireland, and they can maybe play against Portugal.”
Evan Roos showed his strength in a quality performance against Wales 💪#ForeverGreenForeverGold #Springboks pic.twitter.com/NfGLVq9cdl
Erasmus further explained that his decisions were based on carefully collected information, evolving plans and looking ahead to defending the Webb Ellis Cup in Australia in three years’ time.
This long-term view perhaps explains the biggest question mark surrounding Erasmus’ squad – the introduction of Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
“We have no control over what the franchises do and where they play players,” he stated regarding Wessels’ selection.
‘We have a Players of National Interest (Poni) programme, which we contribute to. Wessels is one that we earmarked since 2013, when we started. He was always a loosehead.
“We had Joseph Dweba now in our system for four Test weeks. We now had André-Hugo Venter involved on a tour, on a match day, on a warm-up, on an alignment camp, on a training week. He has got that experience.
“Grobbies (Johan Grobbelaar) was one of the standout hookers, and I don’t think anybody can argue that. The Bulls went the deepest in the competition, and his line-outs were good.
“The nice thing about Jan-Hendrik is that he can cover No 1 and No 2, which makes the selection easier, when we go to 2027 ...
“What we are trying to do is expose guys to our Springbok environment as much as possible,” he concluded, before reiterating the possibility that there could be wholesale changes to the match-day 23 to face Portugal, if all goes swimmingly against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld next Saturday and in Durban a week later.