There’s a reason NFL teams rarely, if ever, field their regular starters during the pre-season. The risk of injury in a largely meaningless match is too great. Rugby union might want to copy from this playbook after a glut of star names, including France’s fly-half Romain Ntamack and England’s in-form scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet have pulled out of the World Cup after suffering cruel blows just weeks before the tournament starts.
Which is why the presence of Siya Kolisi at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday will be a welcome sight to all rugby fans. The Springboks captain last played a competitive game 119 days ago when he was carried off the park in Durban when the Sharks hosted Munster in the United Rugby Championship. Scans showed that he had torn the ligaments in his right knee. There were fears he would be an absent spectator when his team defended the Webb Ellis Cup.
