Fleck takes his chances and plays the Kolisi card
SURELY A break for Siya Kolisi would have come in handy this week?
When the Stormers announced a 25-man touring squad for their Super Rugby match against the Jaguares on Saturday, Kolisi was named as one of the players for the Buenos Aires fixture.
And seeing as how Kolisi has played a lot of rugby this year, his inclusion for a match that doesn’t have a lot weighing on it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. After all, the Stormers’ season is effectively over.
Following the Springboks 25-10 defeat to England in the series-concluding Newlands fixture, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus said that Kolisi – whose last break came against the Sunwolves – could do with a rest.
So including him for the Argentina fixture with a lot of international rugby still to be played makes it a questionable move, even if he plays off the bench in Argentina.
Looking at the rest of the squad, Kolisi’s franchise vice-captain, Eben Etzebeth, will miss out on the trip, even though he was expected to make his return during this game.
The likes of loose forwards Juarno Augustus and Jaco Coetzee, locks Chris van Zyl and JD Schickerling, hooker Scarra Ntubeni, halfbacks Jano Vermaak and Damian Willemse, centre Dan du Plessis and outside backs SP Marais, Sergeal Petersen and Seabelo Senatla also miss out due to injury.
And while coach Robbie Fleck is expecting a tough match in challenging conditions, he’s confident that his charges will approach the game with a “fresh mindset”.
“We know that this will be a tough match in difficult conditions, but we are embracing the challenge that we will face over there.
“After the break we have a fresh mindset and are determined to give a good account of ourselves,” he said.