Siya Kolisi (34) will celebrate his 50th cap for the Sharks when he takes to the field against Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship on Friday.

The Springbok captain will start on the bench for the clash at 20:45 after coach JP Pietersen named his team on Thursday.

Kolisi’s journey to the milestone has been marked by setbacks, including a serious knee injury in 2023 and other niggles that have interrupted his time at the Durban-based franchise.

Pietersen praised the flanker’s resilience ahead of the match.

“It’s special for a special man, a special human,” Pietersen said. “The way he talks and he lights up this room. And to bring up his 50th game, obviously he had a bit of a struggle to get there with his little niggles he got.

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“And it just shows the resilience of the man, that he doesn’t have to give up and stays in the fight.”

The coach said a victory would make the occasion even more memorable for Kolisi.

“We want to make it special for him tomorrow. That’s a small thing we can do tomorrow as a group and to give Siya a great day tomorrow. So we’ll fight for him,” Pietersen said.

“He’s a great human being, inspirational, always with the team first. It’s going to be special tomorrow.”

SOURCE: KickOff