Kolisi unconcerned about knee heading into Rugby World Cup

The Bok talisman suffered a partial ACL tear while playing for the Sharks in April and has been in a race against time to make the global showpiece.

The injury saw Kolisi sit out the reduced Rugby Championship while he received world-class treatment, but he has been featuring on the field in intense Springbok training sessions for the last few weeks. This has given him the confidence that the knee will survive Test match rugby.

"I'm not thinking about the knee, that's the most important thing," he told the press ahead of the Springboks' departure on Saturday.

"Our training helps a lot, because it's like a rugby game. We had a session on Thursday, the last training session in the morning, and it got heated a little bit, in a good way, and I forgot about my knee and just got stuck in it. Which is a good sign.

"That's all I care about right now, is getting over that, which I am, and I just need to get as many minutes as I can, on the field and in training.

"The coaches are making sure that I am not swapped during training, I just stay on the whole time, which is tough.

"Right now I am not worried about the knee. If something happens, then it happens. I can't go in there with those small voices in my head. I won't be able to lead the group.

"That's why training is so important. And what I do during the week is so important. There is no way I am playing and there are doubts in my head. If I am on the field, playing, I won't be thinking about that."

The Springboks face Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 19 August.

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