When the Springboks unveiled their team to face the All Blacks on Saturday, Rassie Erasmus took a rather unusual decision to bracket Siya Kolisi and Paul de Villiers in the team line-up.
Erasmus generally looks to avoid any uncertainty at the team announcement, but in an indication of the importance of having Kolisi available, the Springbok coach wanted to give him the opportunity to come through training with no complaints related to a troublesome hamstring injury.
The good news is that Erasmus has now confirmed that Kolisi was able to run freely on Monday, and he has been cleared to start in the loose trio, where his strengths when it comes to cleaning out at the breakdowns will be highly valued this Saturday.
“Siya came through training without any discomfort, so he is good to go,” Erasmus commented.
Springboks welcome Kolisi back
The inspirational captain has only briefly featured in one Test so far during the 2026 season, which was in the one-off Test against Argentina earlier this month, but he pulled up with a second hamstring injury early on.
Kolisi will resume the captaincy duties, with Pieter-Steph du Toit being allowed to just focus on the occasion of his 100th Test cap this Saturday, while De Villiers will fall out of the matchday 23.
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handrè Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolis (c), 5 Ruan Nortjè, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nchè.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andrè Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Mornè van den Berg, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Kick off this Saturday is at 17:10.
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