Siya Kolisi is officially back!
The Springbok captain, who has missed both Rugby Championship matches, will return to the pitch on Friday at Newlands (3pm kickoff), where he run out for Western Province in a must-win Currie Cup clash against the Pumas.
Kolisi has been battling to shake off a knee injury sustained in the 34-22 Super Rugby victory for the Stormers against the Highlanders in late May.
He was initially ruled out for about six weeks, which would’ve taken him up to mid-July.
But the 28-year-old loose forward was held back by Bok coach Rassie Erasmus for the Tests against the Wallabies at Ellis Park and the All Blacks in Wellington.
Kolisi probably would’ve been ready to play for WP last week, but with John Dobson’s team on a bye, there was no match to play.
That meant that the Bok skipper wasn’t ready to feature in the final Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in Salta on Saturday night (9.40pm SA time kickoff).
Dobson told the media at WP’s training headquarters in Bellville on Monday that Kolisi is likely to start against the Pumas on Friday, and was hopeful that the openside flank can spark a Province outfit that have lost two out of their three Currie Cup games.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Springboks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Springboksat Auckland Airport. 👍👏
✈️ Destination = Buenos Aires, Argentina
— Springboks (@Springboks)
But the big question for Kolisi is whether playing just one game for WP will prepare him accordingly for the last Bok Test in South Africa against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld on 17 August.
Erasmus’ team have only one more encounter before the Rugby World Cup, against Japan on 6 September, before the tournament starts, and he will expect Kolisi to be at full tilt for the blockbuster showdown with the All Blacks in Yokohama on 21 September.
@ashfakmohamed