Rassie delays team announcement as he confirms Kolisi, Nche are carrying ‘niggles’
· Citizen
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and powerhouse prop Ox Nche are both in the running for the opening Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) series against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday evening (5.10pm).
This after Kolisi went off in the first half of the Boks’ most recent Test, against Argentina in Buenos Aires, about 10 days ago, with a hamstring injury, while Nche was a casualty in their first Test of the season against England, going off with a knee injury early in the first half.
Visit rouesnews.click for more information.
It was both players’ only official appearance for the Boks this season, after both featured for the Boks in their non-Test opener against the Barbarians in June.
Nche has played just eight minutes since then, and Kolisi 24 minutes.
Both key members of the Bok squad, there have been fears in recent days that neither will be ready for the first Test of the much-hyped series.
Coach Rassie Erasmus on Monday gave an injury update, which also includes utility forward Franco Mostert.
He also revealed why he had moved the Bok team announcement to Thursday, when in recent times he has announced the team on a Monday or Tuesday.
“The announcement is only on Thursday with respect to New Zealand and how tough this one’s going to be. The less time they have to prepare for our team the better, it’s not an arrogant thing, it’s a respect thing,” said Erasmus.
Injuries
He then gave an update on the injury situation.
“Sous (Mostert) is really looking good,” he said.
“Siya and Ox, I wouldn’t say they are still injured, it’s more like niggles, and if they get through today [Monday] they will have a good chance [of making the first Test]. Other than that everyone is fine.”
Moving to Saturday’s first Test, Erasmus also banished any notion that the Boks would look to slow down the game against the All Blacks, who are famous for playing their free flowing up-tempo style, which they have shown already in their three RGR tour games against the South African franchises.
“There are always multiple truths. Their truth, our truth and then what the world believes. If you go look at our last two games against New Zealand in Auckland and Wellington (last year), were those two games slow?” asked Erasmus.
“We think there is a certain way to win World Cups, which is a grind (slower game style). So we have tried to find a balance between that (and a quicker game style). It’s a system that we can fall back on in clutch situations.
“Since Tony (Brown, attack coach) has been with us we feel we have been attacking all right and not too badly. But we always want to make sure that we have something to fall back on when the pressure is really tough.”