Springboks handed major World Cup boost with latest Siya Kolisi update
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi has provided all fans with a positive update today as he continues to recover from ACL surgery.
The World Cup winning captain had surgery in early May after picking up an injury while playing for the Sharks against eventual United Rugby Championship winners Munster.
The initial fears were that he would miss the World Cup, but the outlook has progressively improved since his surgery to the point where he feels he will “hopefully be OK to play in one of the warm-up games” before the World Cup.
That is a remarkable recovery the 32-year-old is set to make as he could well be able to take part in the Boks’ entire World Cup defence. The Rugby Championship next month will come too soon for him, however.
Click here to watch Kolisi’s message.
The Boks get their Rugby Championship underway against Eddie Jones’ Australia on July 8 at Loftus Versfeld. The squad are midway through a three-week camp in preparation for the tournament, and head coach Jacques Nienaber is pleased with what he has seen so far.
“We are very happy with the opening week of our training camp,” said Nienaber.
“It was great to have the players here, and to get them back into the swing of things both in terms of the intensity of our training sessions and to get everyone aligned with our structures off the field.
“This group comprises players from 19 clubs, so it was vital to get everyone on the same page in terms of how we do things.”
Nienaber added: “The players were very excited to see one another when we got together on Sunday and to get the season underway.
“As coaches we are also pleased with the quality of our training sessions and to see how determined the players are to participate in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and stake a claim for places in the Rugby World Cup squad.”
