Rassie Erasmus confirms Springboks captain and hits out at ‘fat’ Siya Kolisi claim

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Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has confirmed his captain for the two-Test matches against Ireland and has responded to the Racing 92 president’s criticism of Siya Kolisi

Erasmus named his 39-man squad for the series in South Africa against Ireland in July, adding two uncapped players in Bulls’ stars Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Their inclusions mean that four players could debut against Ireland, with Morne van den Berg and Phepsi Buthlezi yet to play for South Africa.

Siya Kolisi to continue to captain the Springboks

However, his squad did not mention who would be captaining the side after Erasmus revealed earlier this year that Kolisi’s role as skipper was in doubt.

With Kolisi making the move to France joining Racing 92 after the Rugby World Cup last year, Erasmus raised concerns about his access to the skipper but did not rule out the chance of handing the leadership role to another player.

“This is a unique situation, and I think he (Kolisi) will play some Test matches; he certainly wants to, but we are not sure about the captaincy,” the Boks boss explained back in March.

Local-based Springboks Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi were tipped for the role along with Steven Kitshoff – who is returning to the Stormers next year but has been ruled out of the series through injury – but Erasmus has confirmed that it will be Kolisi who captains the side.

Kolisi has led his country on 53 occasions, winning back-to-back Rugby World Cups and winning a British and Irish Lions series in between.

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Erasmus hits back

The flanker has, however received criticism from the president of his club Jacky Lorenzetti who slammed his performance in his debut season in France as well as his game against Bordeaux.

“Kolisi had a remarkable start to the season, where he was a unifier off the field,” Lorenzetti said.

“The injury layoff was harmful to him. He gained weight, lost shape and yesterday [against Bordeaux] he was transparent. In the back-row, we used to have an ultra-present warrior, a warrior called Wenceslas Lauret. For the moment, Siya is not making us forget Wenceslas. But we think that next year, that will change.”

Erasmus took a swipe at Lorenzetti for his remarks and asked for an update on the flanker after he joined the Springboks in London before returning to South Africa with the squad.

“Siya will be captain,” Erasmus confirmed.

“Siya will play six flank, and he is fit and has no issues or injury, and Siya is not fat, and Siya is not transparent,” the bok boss added with a smile.

The Springboks and Ireland face off at Loftus in the first of the two matches before heading to Durban for the second encounter.

Springboks July fixtures

Saturday, 6 July: Springboks v Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)

Saturday, 13 July: Springboks vs Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)

Saturday, 20 July: Springboks vs Portugal (Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein)