Springbok captain Kolisi doubtful for World Cup defence

South Africa's World Cup winning captain Siyi Kolisi has emerged as a doubt for this year's title defence amid reports he incurred a cruciate ligament tear in the Sharks draw at home to Munster in the URC last weekend. Reports of partial tear to Kolisi’s anterior cruciate ligament and a damaged meniscus dominated local media on Tuesday, although there has been no confirmation from him or his club. The Springbok captain is being advised to have surgery on a knee injury and would then likely miss South Africa’s defence of the World Cup in France from September. South African media reports said the 31-year-old Kolisi had been advised by one of the two specialists he has consulted to have an operation to fix the problem, which would mean a spell on the sidelines of up to nine months, but was seeking a third opinion.

The loose forward captained South Africa to their third World Cup victory in Japan in 2019 after soundly defeating England in the final. Kolisi’s close friend Etzebeth, a team mate at the Sharks, said he is expecting to be back for the Boks when they open their Rugby Championship campaign against Australia in July. He suffered a shoulder injury when the Sharks beat Munster in the European Champions Cup on 1 April and was initially expected to also be in danger of missing out on the World Cup in France.

Etzebeth told reporters his recovery has been swifter than expected and he was hoping to be back for the test against the Wallabies in Pretoria.