Springboks wait and see on Siya Kolisi

Doubt over Siya Kolisi's fitness ahead of Saturday's Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks has necessitated a delay in the Springboks' team announcement from Tuesday to Thursday.

Kolisi suffered what appeared to be a facial fracture in last Saturday's clash at Ellis Park after former All Blacks captain Sam Cane clumsily clattered into him.

Official word on the severity of the captain's injury has not been forthcoming from the Bok camp, and their decision to delay their team announcement until Thursday suggests they are likely to keep their cards close to their chest until then. Others in and around the infirmary may also have influenced the Boks' 'wait-and-see' approach.

For the World Champions to delay their team announcement is significant.

The Boks, to the consternation of their opponents, most notably England ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, have nailed their selection colours to the mast on a Tuesday, well ahead of match day. It has been a show of confidence in their group as much as it has been a gauntlet-throwing exercise to the opposition.

By this week delaying their team announcement from its customary Tuesday slot, the Boks for the second straight week have bent team selection protocol. They usually inform the players of the team selection on a Sunday and go public on a Tuesday.

Last week there was doubt over the availability of veteran lock Eben Etzebeth after he injured his knee, which it was initially thought would keep him from last Monday's team practice — a must-attend prerequisite for selection on a Saturday. Etzebeth was initially left out of the squad but he proved his fitness and was selected among the substitutes.

Bok scrum coach Daan Human who fronted the media on Monday said he could not shed more light on the severity of Kolisi's injury.

“So far we are still busy assessing the possibility of him being available for us in the week,” Human said.

Asked if the injury to Kolisi and the tight timeline for his recovery caused the delay in the team announcement Human said: “I don't think there is a particular reason. Let's put it this way, Rassie will answer that one.”

Human went on to say Kolisi's collision was “a proper knock” but would not be drawn on whether Cane should have faced further sanction beyond the penalty the All Blacks conceded.

The match-day officials deemed the tackle, if it can be called that, not to have met the red card threshold. “I can’t go into what the refs and the TMO saw. We’ve just seen what we’ve seen. Hopefully Siya can recover soon and be fit to play the game.

“It’s up to them what they decide, if it was a red card or a yellow card. I don’t think we will ever go into the ref’s decisions or the IRB's [now World Rugby] decisions on that. It’s in the past and we are looking forward to Saturday,” Human said.

Irrespective Kolisi's availability the Boks will have much to ponder in their selections this weekend.

Should Kolisi, who has featured in four of the Springboks' seven Tests this year, fail to recover in time there may be a recall to the match-day 23 for Marco van Staden. The Bulls flank was dropped from the selected 23 last week after Etzebeth proved his fitness.

He came off the bench in both Tests against Ireland as well as the clash in Brisbane against the Wallabies before earning a starting spot for the Perth match.

Another injury concern is wing Kurt-Lee Arendse who was knocked out when he attempted to tackle Rieko Ioane last Saturday. It is unclear if the knock will preclude his involvement on Saturday.

Makazole Mapimpi has been in superb try scoring form for the Boks and for the Sharks, while Canan Moodie has also looked the part for the Bulls.