Siya Kolisi remains Rassie Erasmus’ first-choice Springbok skipper, but the head coach is looking at “young blood” to potentially succeed the two-time World Cup winner.
Kolisi will lead the world champions in Saturday’s season-opening clash against the Barbarians in Cape Town, yet 2025 could mark the beginning of a leadership transition as Erasmus weighs up his long-term options.
Central to the Bok resurgence initiated by Erasmus in 2018, Kolisi has captained South Africa to glory at the 2019 World Cup, secured a British & Irish Lions series win in 2021, claimed the 2023 World Cup title and won the 2024 Rugby Championship.
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As the Boks target that World Cup three-peat in two years’ time, the 34-year-old loose forward remains an integral part of Erasmus’ plans but is not expected to play every match for the Boks this year.
With that in mind, the Bok boss wants to rotate leadership duties, and not just among the usual lieutenants such as Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and Salmaan Moerat.
“In this game, Siya will be captain obviously and Jesse [Kriel] will be vice-captain,” Erasmus told reporters this week. “We’re thinking of saving Damian [de Allende] a bit and get Andre Esterhuizen on, so hopefully, Jesse goes through and can fill in when Siya goes off.
“If you think about it Pieter-Steph has been captain, Bongi, Eben and Salmaan too, while De Allende has been vice-captain a lot of times.
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“I guess when the time is right, we will definitely try [and appoint a new captain]. Siya definitely won’t play all the matches this year.”
Kriel, a seasoned centre with 79 caps and two World Cup medals, still has age on his side at 31, but Erasmus is also considering younger players with potential to lead beyond 2027.
Among the possible candidates are former Junior Bok and Western Province U21 captain Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Vodacom Bulls skipper Ruan Nortje and the charismatic Vincent Tshituka, who led the Sharks to 2024 Currie Cup glory.
“I think it’s time to give some of the young bloods, in certain Test matches, the feeling of captaining the squad,” Erasmus said.
“Let’s first see how the first game goes before we get to that.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
