Siya gets nod for Japan 2019

London – Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has said that barring injury or some unforeseen circumstance, Siya Kolosi (below) will captain South Africa at the World Cup in Japan next year.

“There are still some people who would love to see the Boks fail; some people still upset about the past,” admitted Erasmus in a media interview at the weekend.

“But the way Siya’s handled it so far I’ve got no doubt that, barring injury or something really bad going wrong, he’ll be our captain through to Japan.”

Kolisi was happy to be just one of the boys at Twickenham on Saturday.

For one day only, South Africa’s first black Test rugby captain got to play international rugby without a care – to pull on the Barbarians jersey for a match of zero consequence.

“It is tough, you carry the weight of the whole country as Bok captain,” he said. “And after the England series, I won’t lie, I was drained. My face was in every newspaper – and I’m not that kind of person. I’m shy, I keep myself to myself.

“Never in a million years could I have dreamt of getting the opportunity to become Springbok captain.”

The incredible rise of Kolisi from an impoverished township to leading South Africa against England as the Springboks’ first black rugby captain was surreal, he said.

And South Africa’s first black president, whom he calls Tata (father) and whose image he has tattooed on his back, is his guiding light.

“Tata wanted everyone to be equal, to have the same opportunities,” said Kolisi, who has a white wife. “And while not everything has changed, we are getting there.”

He went on: “One of my best friends is Eben Etzebeth.

“We come from two different backgrounds, he’s Afrikaans and I’m Xhosa, but we get along. That’s the South Africa we want.”