'We could have selected him': Erasmus explains Siya Kolisi decision

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed that captain Siya Kolisi was available to face the All Blacks this weekend at Ellis Park in the first match of the Greatest Rivalry series, but the coaching team opted against selecting him.

It was originally feared that the 100-cap veteran would miss a large chunk, if not all, of the highly-anticipated series after picking up a hamstring injury in the Springboks’ 17-10 victory over Argentina earlier this month. However, Erasmus gave an upbeat update earlier this week on the injury status of both Kolisi and loosehead prop Ox Nche, saying they were both in contention to face the All Blacks in Johannesburg.

While Nche has been named in the starting XV for the first Test against Dave Rennie’s side, Kolisi has missed out, with Paul de Villiers wearing the No.6 jersey instead and fellow flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit leading the side.

After naming his team, Erasmus revealed the two reasons why the double World Cup-winning skipper was not picked. Not only is it a precautionary step at the beginning of a long four-Test series, but it is a reward to the 23-year-old de Villiers, who has sported the green jersey adroitly since making his debut at the beginning of July.

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“Siya trained well with us this week, and although we could have selected him for this clash, we thought it would be best to select Paul (de Villiers) for this weekend’s game,” Erasmus said.

“We are playing four Tests against the All Blacks and Paul has been playing well, so we are excited to give him a chance this weekend in what will be his first Test match against New Zealand, while taking a precautionary approach to Siya’s return.

“We have a solid group of players, and each one of them deserves their places in the squad, so we will approach team selection week by week.”