Rassie not the first Bok coach with captain quandary

Rassie Erasmus is not the first Springbok head coach having to consider the continued candidacy of a successful captain who has sought greener pastures.

Precedent was set in 2008 when SA Rugby allowed then head coach Peter de Villiers to explore ways of extending John Smit’s role as captain after the Springboks’ successful Rugby World Cup campaign the previous year.

Smit, who captained the Boks a record 83 times, had moved to Clermont after the Boks final game of 2007 against Wales in Cardiff, but he was back at the helm to mark his 50th Test as captain in their first Test of 2008 against the same opposition in Bloemfontein.

The then 29-year-old was still affiliated to Clermont, for whom he had played a handful of games before prematurely ending his contract in June of that year. He had played two Tests as Bok captain while affiliated to a foreign club, before rejoining the Sharks.

Siya Kolisi also scaled the game’s highest peak in Paris before returning for club commitments in that country.

Weighty matter

That the double RWC winner now plays abroad is probably the weightiest matter Erasmus has had to consider since he took the reins of the Springboks in 2018.

The head coach has some, though not cast in stone, preconditions for the Springbok captain, and the much celebrated incumbent is now falling foul of one of the criteria.

As the Boks go into a fresh four-year cycle to the next RWC, Erasmus made a point of stating his preference for a captain based in SA.

The coach has previously said he prefers his captain to be closer to the action and the referee, have the ability to communicate effectively, and of course, command a place in the starting team.

Kolisi, of course, has effortlessly ticked those boxes in his near six-year tenure across 53 Tests as skipper.

However, after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup for a second time last October, he returned to Paris in November to start a three-year contract with Racing 92.

The phrase “out of sight, out of mind” will probably never apply to the popular captain but his move to the City of Light has somewhat dimmed his prospects of continuing as the Boks’ frontman.

Erasmus made it clear it is a matter still under consideration.

“I would always love to have a captain locally based because he can hop on a flight and we can have a weekend together and plan and work on stuff.

“This is a unique situation. He will be considered and I think he will play some Test matches. He definitely wants to, and he is playing well enough.

“If we get the feeling that it is doable, and they [the rest of the Boks] know him so well, maybe there is a place for that, but I will first have to suss it out and see if it works.”

Erasmus said that there are “a lot of players” who have signed for overseas clubs with clauses in their contracts stating they will stop playing international rugby.

“Obviously, the club will give them more money because he will be available whenever they need him. Siya did not sign a clause like that. He wants to play for SA.

“I think he is playing some of his best rugby, and he looks really relaxed.”

Erasmus is not one to yield to sentiment but few read as effectively the room like he does.

He is acutely aware of the impact Kolisi has made in further popularising the sport, not just in SA but globally. Those are gains SA Rugby will not want to reverse.

In many ways Kolisi has transcended the sport — but as sure as the sun sets in the west, there will come a time when his most fervent fans will have to come to terms with a post-Kolisi Bok landscape.