Springboks assistant coach Daan Human tried to put on his best poker face when quizzed about the facial injury captain Siya Kolisi suffered in the Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks on Saturday.
Human took the media’s questions during a standard Monday press conference a few minutes after the Springboks sent out of notice that their team announcement for the second All Blacks Test had been moved to Thursday from the normal Tuesday slot.
Kolisi’s face, especially under his left eye, looked badly swollen after Saturday’s gripping encounter against the New Zealanders at Ellis Park, with Erasmus suggesting that his skipper may have a facial fracture.
The injury apparently happened when Kolisi copped a shoulder to the face while running into All Blacks flanker Sam Cane’s tackle. The referee and the television match official only deemed it to be worthy of a penalty at the time.
“It looks like a fracture. I’m not a medical doctor, but I think it’s a fracture,” coach Rassie Erasmus said at the post-match presser.
“The doc will have to look at Siya ... he doesn’t normally look like this! Kurt-Lee is concussed.”
Siya Kolisi was assessed and the Boks will likely make a call on his availability for the 2nd test against the All Blacks laterbthis week. The Bok team announcement scheduled for tomorrow is delayed till Thursday. Daan Human on the Kolisi injury #RugbyChampionship #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/3l8pJOypug
Scrum guru Human, with his familiar Springboks bucket hat on his head, was rather coy in his injury update on Kolisi. Only divulging that the skipper will be given time to prove his fitness.
“So far, they are still busy assessing the possibility of him being available to for us in the week,” Human said.
“We will see how he goes through this week. He’s important for us, but if he’s not [available], then next man in.”
Most international teams announce their team on the Thursday before a Test match on the Saturday. But since Erasmus took over in 2018, most of the Springbok team announcements have been on a Tuesday. The last time the Springboks announced their team on a Thursday was ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against France.
During Chasing The Sun 2, former Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber explained that they did it to try and keep the French guessing about the make-up of their team, having made so many changes from game-to-game before that.
It’s a similar scenario on ahead of the Springboks’ clash against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium, with the Boks having rotated heavily over the last few months. The only time they went into a Test match unchanged this year was in the second Test of the two-match series against Ireland.
“I don’t think there’s a particular reason,” Human said when asked about the postponement of the team announcement. “Let me put it this way, Rassie will answer that one.”
Cane’s tackle on Kolisi seems to be a bit of sensitive topic for the Springboks, who may feel that he deserved a harsher punishment on the day.
Cane was shown a red card in Rugby World Cup final between the two teams for the high shot on Jesse Kriel.
“It was a proper knock,” Human said.
“I can’t go into what the refs and the TMO saw. We’ve just seen what we’ve seen. Hopefully Siya can recover soon and be fit to play the game.
“It’s up to them what they decide, if it was a red card or a yellow card. I don’t think we will ever go into the ref’s decisions or World Rugby’s decisions on that. It’s in the past and we are looking forward to Saturday.”
IOL Sport