Rassie Erasmus confirms big decision on Springboks captaincy

Siya Kolisi led the Springboks to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2023, with the flanker having served as the team’s captain ever since Rassie Erasmus took over as head coach in 2018.

The two have a long history together, dating back nearly a decade, with Erasmus having always insisted that Kolisi is the most inspirational and influential captain the Springboks could hope for.

Since the 2023 World Cup concluded, Kolisi has headed abroad to join French club Racing 92, and it has raised the question of whether the Springboks will be able to be led by an overseas-based captain.

Big decision for Rassie Erasmus on Kolisi’s Springboks captaincy

Erasmus has now provided notable insight on the big call that will have to be made, revealing that a decision has yet to be made due to the fact the South African Rugby Union generally did not want to have a captain who plies his trade overseas.

It now remains to be seen if an exception will be made, but this is certainly an interesting set of circumstances that will need to be clarified before the start of the Test season.

Rassie Erasmus says Siya Kolisi will still captain the #Springboks and he is available to play. But there will be discussions around the captaincy and what will work for the team. Ideally, he would love a local-based captain that can fly out for a weekend or brain-storming pic.twitter.com/R7TocBVctK

— Leighton Koopman (@Leighton_K) March 12, 2024

Rassie confirmed that Siya is still available for the Boks. Rassie is still deciding about the captaincy as Siya is now playing abroad and Saru always wanted the captain to play his rugby in SA. Rassie is however impressed with Siya’s form for Racing92. #Springboks #capetown pic.twitter.com/IkKTA08XcK

— Hendrik Cronjé (@hendrikcronje71) March 12, 2024

The Springboks have a busy Test season ahead of them, with the first Test taking place in June.

CONFIRMED FIXTURES FOR 2024:

Saturday, 22 June: SA vs Wales (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 6 July: SA vs Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 13 July: SA vs Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday, 20 July: SA vs Portugal (Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein)
Saturday, 10 August: Australia vs SA (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Saturday, 17 August: Australia vs SA (Optus Stadium, Perth)
Saturday, 31 August: SA vs New Zealand (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 7 September: SA vs New Zealand (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)
Saturday, 21 September: Argentina vs SA (venue TBC)
Saturday, 28 September: SA vs Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela)
16/17 November: England vs SA (Twickenham, London – date TBC)