Springboks have options when replacing injured captain Kolisi

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has plenty of captaincy options when it comes to stand-ins for injured skipper Siya Kolisi during the Rugby Championship in July.

AFP understands centres Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende, prop Steven Kitshoff, lock Eben Etzebeth and loose forwards Pieter-Steph du Toit and Duane Vermeulen are in the running.

Kolisi is recovering from a serious knee injury that required surgery and will be available for selection only in August, when the Springboks play three pre-World Cup warm-up internationals.

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The Boks begin their defence of the World Cup title on 10 September against Scotland in Marseille and the camp is confident Kolisi will be fully fit then.

Nienaber may require two caretaker captains for the single-round Rugby Championship as he plans to split the squad for fixtures against Australia and New Zealand in order to combat jet lag.

New Zealand time is 10 hours ahead of South Africa so the Springboks intend sending an advance party of about 15 players to Auckland.

Splitting the squad worked well for the Springboks before the 2019 World Cup in Japan, with a home win over the Wallabies and an away draw with the All Blacks leading to overall victory.

Were Nienaber to send only probable first choices to Auckland, the group would likely include Am, De Allende, Etzebeth and Du Toit.

But Am and Du Toit may be kept back to face Australia at Loftus Versfeld in what director of rugby Rassie Erasmus considers a crucial match.

"I appreciate that a lot of the public and media attention has been on the match against our great rivals the All Blacks, but we dare not lose our opening Rugby Championship match.

"The