On Thursday morning the Springboks dropped an unexpected bombshell when revealing the team to face the All Blacks this Saturday, with Siya Kolisi named in the starting line-up, but with Jesse Kriel retaining the captaincy.
Immediately, it did make waves across social media, with many questioning how the Springboks’ long-term skipper would not immediately take on the captaincy duties once he had been cleared of injury, and picked to start.
It’s an understandable question, and an unsurprising response.
But here are the facts.
The Springboks have a longstanding internal policy where the team is informed all together (most often on a Sunday) as to what the team selection is for the week ahead.
For this weekend’s Test against the All Blacks, it’s clear that the initial plan was for Siya Kolisi to be rested this Saturday in order to afford him more time to recover from a knee injury. Jean-Luc du Preez was set to start at No 8, and Kriel was to captain the team.
However, plans had to be altered when Du Preez picked up an injury in training, and with Kolisi showing good progress in his recovery, the decision was taken for World Cup-winning captain to start at eighthman.
Of course he could have just also taken back the captaincy duties, but the Springboks have a policy where they respect and honour the decisions and communications made internally to the team. In this case, it was that Kriel would be the captain this week.
It is not dissimilar, at all, to another example at the 2019 World Cup.
In the lead up to the semi-finals, the team was informed at the beginning of the week that Sbu Nkosi would be starting on the wing as Cheslin Kolbe was carrying an injury.
However, as the days unfolded, Kolbe proved in training that he was back to full fitness, and Rassie Erasmus gave strong consideration to switching his selection and omitting Nkosi from the team.
Despite this understandable temptation, Erasmus took the advice from his coaching team to honour the decision that was taken at the start of the week. Nkosi started, Kolbe backed the decision to remain on the sidelines for one more week, and the Springboks emerged victorious.
You can rest assured that it is a similar case now, with Kolisi fully aware that he will be captain – as usual – from next week, allowing him this week to just focus on his own game in a relatively unfamiliar position at No 8, while deferring the captaincy responsibility to his good friend Jesse Kriel.
In short, there may be an outcry among some supporters, but there will not be the slightest issue within the Springbok camp itself.
Rassie Erasmus explained the decision for Kriel, not Kolisi, to captain the team this week
Erasmus made it clear that with Kriel already appointed captain earlier in the week, the Springbok coaches decided not to change course.
“Siya was touch and go for the match earlier in the week after picking up a niggle a few weeks ago, and we didn’t want to risk him unnecessarily,” Erasmus said. “But with J-L (Jean-Luc du Preez) having picked up a niggle at training this week, Siya was the obvious choice to slot in at No 8.
“At that stage, Jesse had already been told he would be the captain, and it was only fair for us to keep things that way. He’s a great leader and one of the core players in our team. His communication with the referee and his teammates is good, and he leads by example in the way he plays, so he deserves this opportunity.
“It will also be a big occasion for him to captain the team against the All Blacks for the first time, so we are proud of Jesse, and we know he’ll carry this responsibility with great pride.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS DECISION?
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