Rugby: Kolisi hopes to play "one or two matches" before World Cup

6/20/2023, 3:03:15 PM

Highlights: Siya Kolisi says he hopes to play in one or two warm-up matches before World Cup. The South African third row underwent knee surgery in April. KolisI will not be able to take part in the Rugby Championship matches in July. The defending champions will face Argentina in Buenos Aires, Wales in Cardiff and New Zealand in London between 5 and 25 August. He will join Racing 92 in the Top 14 after the World Cup in Japan in 2019. He made his debut for South Africa in 2013 and became the Springboks' first black captain.

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi, who is recovering from knee surgery, said on Tuesday he hoped to play "one or two" warm-up matches before South Africa start defence.

"I hope I can play in one of the two warm-up matches," Kolisi told reporters in Pretoria. "It's not great to be injured, but I've been there before and it's good to have the support of the coaches and players, as well as the medical team, which is fantastic," continued the South African third row, operated at the end of April for a partial rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and also affected by a meniscus.

Kolisi, who will join Racing 92 in the Top 14 after the World Cup, will not be able to take part in the Rugby Championship matches against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina in July.

"I'm improving every week and I'm confident about how the situation will evolve. My rehabilitation is going well," he reassured Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks' director of rugby, who said last week that he intended to involve him in the preparation matches between the Rugby Championship and the World Cup (8 September - 28 October).

The defending champions will face Argentina in Buenos Aires, Wales in Cardiff and New Zealand in London between 5 and 25 August.

Kolisi, who made his debut for South Africa in 2013, became the Springboks' first black captain five years later and led his country to victory at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.