Bok captain Kolisi completes knee surgery, starts anxious wait for World Cup defence readiness

Springbok captain and Sharks loose-forward Siya Kolisi completed his knee surgery on Friday, which now starts the anxious wait to see how quickly he'll recover from the injury he sustained last week against Munster.

Kolisi, who has been capped 75 times by the men's national rugby team since his storied 2013 Test debut against Scotland at the Mbombela Stadium, injured his knee in the third minute of the Sharks' 22-22 draw against Munster in their final United Rugby Championship round-robin fixture.

With an unnecessarily stony silence over the severity of Kolisi's injury, the loose-forward sought different opinions from specialists this week before going under the knife on Friday.

A post shared by Siya Kolisi (@siyakolisi)

It was his wife, Rachel, who revealed to television news channel ENCA where she received the National Order of Ikhamanga award on behalf of her husband, who confirmed that Kolisi had gone under the knife.

News24 reported earlier in the week that Kolisi faced two options: either go under the knife or wait for the injury to heal which could take up to four months.

Kolisi said on Instagram that he's now ready to work hard.

"Op went well, the hard work starts now. Thanks for all the prayer, messages and support," Kolisi posted.

In the 2023 Test season, the Springboks will play two matches at home against Australia (Loftus Versfeld, 8 July) and Argentina (Ellis Park, 29 July) interspersed with away games against New Zealand (Auckland, 15 July) and Argentina (Buenos Aires, 5 August).

READ | Springbok captain Kolisi opts for surgery as World Cup hangs in balance

Their World Cup preparation will be wrapped up with games against Wales in Cardiff (19 August) and New Zealand in London (25 August) before heading south to