The Albany Gazette - Erasmus hopeful Kolisi hamstring injury not 'too bad'

Erasmus was reacting to the two-time Rugby World Cup-winning skipper limping out of the one-off international after 25 minutes on Saturday in his first Test appearance of the season.

A hamstring injury sidelined flanker Kolisi for Nations Championship victories over England, Scotland and Wales during July.

"Siya injured his hamstring, the other hamstring, but it does not look too bad," said Erasmus before praising the 35-year-old loose forward.

"I thought Siya was really dynamic with his carries and clean-outs," he said after a Test in which the Springboks had to withstand sustained late Pumas pressure.

Injury-prone Kolisi was philosophical about the blow, which comes just two weeks before South Africa face greatest rivals New Zealand in the first of four Tests.

"I hurt a hamstring again, unfortunately. I will go for a scan when I return home and see how things go," he told reporters.

"It is tough, but I am not depressed. There is nothing I can do other than have it checked and see how long I am out for."

Were Kolisi to miss the All Blacks Test, Paul de Villiers would be the likely replacement after outstanding performances in the Nations Championship.

Erasmus was pleased with the character of a side containing only five likely starters against the All Blacks.

"We were not happy with the performance, but we were happy with the character the players showed," he said.

"A number of them were short of game time returning from injury. Getting them through 80 minutes was always going to affect our fluency."

Besides Kolisi, locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and replacement scrum-half Morne van den Berg played their first Test this season.

"Argentina play a physical game similar to ours and we have always struggled to get on top of them," said Erasmus.

"They are a proud rugby nation. They are passionate, and never stop. What pleased me was that we won the physical battle.

"To concede only one try, which came from an offload we probably should have stopped, tells me our defence was solid.

"I never expected a comfortable win. In fact, we always thought it would be a tight match, won by a narrow margin."

(L.Thomas--TAG)