Kolisi's appointment as captain long overdue: Krige
Former Springbok captain, Corne Krige believes Siya Kolisi's appointment as Bok skipper is long overdue. Krige has been commenting after Rassie Erasmus announced the 26-year-old as his captain for the upcoming Test matches against England.
"He has played three unbelievable seasons and has had a phenomenal Test match career so far and he deserves to be there. He has worked incredibly hard to come from he started to be where he is today. I think there will also be outside pressure, but he is way past that and confident enough. I think he will do really well," he said.
Krige captained the Boks on 18 occasions between 1999 and 2004.
He says Kolisi's new role will come with greater responsibilities, but believes the flanker has everything in his locker to fulfil his new position.
"He is a humble guy who leads by example and he does really hard work on the field. That earns not only the respect of his peers and teammates, but opponents as well," he said.
Kolisi will become the first black Springbok player to lead the team in an official Test match.
He succeeds Warren Whiteley and Eben Etzebeth who captained the team last year but have been sidelined due to injury.
Kolisi will captain South Africa in three Test matches against England, getting underway next month.
He will not travel to America for a once-off Test match against Wales this weekend. Pieter-Steph du Toit will lead the team in that match.
Krige captained the Boks on 18 occasions between 1999 and 2004.
He says Kolisi's new role will come with greater responsibilities, but believes the flanker has everything in his locker to fulfil his new position.
"He is a humble guy who leads by example and he does really hard work on the field. That earns not only the respect of his peers and teammates, but opponents as well," he said.
Kolisi will become the first black Springbok player to lead the team in an official Test match.
He succeeds Warren Whiteley and Eben Etzebeth who captained the team last year but have been sidelined due to injury.
Kolisi will captain South Africa in three Test matches against England, getting underway next month.
He will not travel to America for a once-off Test match against Wales this weekend. Pieter-Steph du Toit will lead the team in that match.