This is her first speech since her injury at the end of April, and she was watched. Touched in the knee on April 22 during a United Rugby Championship (URC) match against Munster, Siya Kolisi has been at the center of serious concern for almost two months: the captain of South Africa, operated on ligaments in the process, is launched in a race against time to defend the title of Springboks at the World Cup in France (September 8 – October 28).
“My rehabilitation is going well. I’m working hard to recover as well as possible. And it’s great to be able to do it within the team.”
Siya Kolisi, captaine des Springboks
This Tuesday, during a press conference in Pretoria, the flanker declared himself confident. ” I feel good. What’s good is that I’ve been there before, he smiled in reference to a knee injury which had disrupted his preparation for the 2019 World Cup. I know that you have to take the situation day by day . I’m sure everything will be fine. My rehabilitation is going well. I’m working hard to recover as well as possible. And it’s great to be able to do it within the team. It helps me a lot mentally, to see all this work done around me. If I wasn’t there, I would miss a lot of what the band is doing. And there are guys I can lean on, like RG (Snyman), Handré (Pollard) or Pieter-Steph (Du Toit), who I talk to a lot. They also had those knee injuries! »
“I hope I can play one or two of the preparation matches for the World Cup”
As a charismatic captain, Kolisi has been involved in the Springbok group since the first gatherings for the World Cup, launched around mid-May with short courses lasting a few days. The future Racing 92 player, 32, will not participate in the Rugby Championship, which the Boks begin on July 8 with the reception of Australia in Pretoria. But he imagines playing again before the World Cup. “I’m improving every week, and I’m regularly able to do new things, so I’m confident. I hope I can play one or two of the preparation matches for the World Cup, ”he projected.
In August, the world champions must play three friendly matches against Argentina (August 5), Wales (August 19) and New Zealand, at Twickenham (August 25). Their first World Cup match is scheduled for September 10 in Marseille, against Scotland. The Boks staff have often repeated that they will give Kolisi plenty of time to recover.
