Springboks have options when replacing injured captain Siya Kolisi

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa head 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.

South Africa begin their defence of the World Cup title on Sept 10 against Scotland in Marseille, and the Springboks camp are confident Kolisi will be fully fit by 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 to send 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.

If Nienaber sends 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 Stadium in what director of rugby Rassie Erasmus considers a crucial match.

He said: “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 Wallabies are coming here with a new coach in Eddie Jones and our rivalry with him goes back many years.”

No. 8 Vermeulen, who turns 37 in July, would be a popular choice, but Erasmus has hinted at a new role for the forward.

“Duane can perhaps fulfil a role similar to that of Francois Louw at the last World Cup – coming off the bench with 12 or so minutes to go and making a huge impact,” he said.

However, with first-choice No. 8 Jasper Wiese likely to be among the early arrivals in Auckland, Vermeulen could start in Pretoria.

Springbok insiders say Am mirrors the quiet authority of Kolisi, the second most successful post-isolation South Africa skipper after John Smit with a 64 per cent win rate.

Du Toit, the 2019 Rugby Player of the Year, is an outstanding flanker and can switch to lock, but is prone to injuries. Loosehead prop Kitshoff captained the Stormers to the 2023 United Rugby Championship final. However, he is often deployed off the bench.

Etzebeth has led the Springboks before and the experience garnered from 110 caps makes him an obvious candidate. De Allende is probably the outsider in the captaincy race.

Three Rugby Championship matches and three warm-up games will prepare South Africa for the World Cup title defence. AFP