Rassie Erasmus has confirmed Siya Kolisi will return to the Springbok starting line-up for the second Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday, a week after the Springboks went down 16-33 to New Zealand in the series opener at Ellis Park.
Kolisi has managed just 24 minutes of Test rugby this season — 24 painful minutes against Argentina in Buenos Aires a fortnight ago — after a hamstring injury ruled him out of all three Nations Championship matches against England, Scotland and Wales. Paul de Villiers filled the No 6 role at Ellis Park before being replaced by Marco van Staden, and Erasmus was complimentary about the performance. "I thought Paul played really well. I know Siya is back next week."
The loss was compounded by a series of enforced positional reshuffles that Erasmus acknowledged effectively ended the match as a contest. Kurt-Lee Arendse was removed early after "his mouth got pinged", with André Esterhuizen coming on — originally intended for use at loose forward. That plan unravelled immediately. "Then Andre had to go to centre and Jesse [Kriel] had to play out of position at wing. And then Cheslin got injured later and Cobus [Reinach] had to go to nine … and Grant [Williams] had to go to wing."
Kolbe's second-half exit appeared to be cramp rather than a structural injury, with Erasmus expressing confidence the wing would be available for Cape Town. Van Staden and Reinach were then yellow-carded in quick succession late in the match, leaving the Springboks effectively undermanned across two critical positions simultaneously. "It's impossible to attack without a nine and without a flanker, so it was a lost cause," Erasmus said.