South Africa captain Siya Kolisi says he “can’t put into words” his emotions at the prospect of making his long-awaited return from injury.

Kolisi partially tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in April, which made leading his nation to a second successive World Cup seem remote.

“The specialist saw my scans and told me it was possible,” said Kolisi.

“An ACL is a big injury to have, you know how long it takes, but to have a strong medical team that had confidence it [returning for the World Cup] was possible changed my belief.

“Me and everybody who’s worked on my knee, we have given everything to this point and whatever happens tomorrow, I’ll have peace in my heart that I gave myself the best chance to reach here.

“I’m not thinking about injury, if it happens it happens, it doesn’t matter.

“I’ve given myself the best chance, I’m not walking in fear, I’m walking in confidence tomorrow because I feel good.”

Thanks to hard work, sacrificing time with his family, travelling more than 1,000 miles between Cape Town and Durban for his rehab and his own faith, Kolisi is now set to return ahead of schedule.

An ACL injury can force players to miss entire seasons or more, but Kolisi’s eyes were firmly on a return ahead of the 2023 World Cup in France.

‘If it’s in his will, it will happen’

While the surgeons, physios and strength and conditioning coaches have undoubtedly been crucial, Kolisi, a devout Christian, relied on his faith during this latest hardship.

“I had a lot of doubts when the injury happened, my wife just prayed and believed I could get here,” said Kolisi.

“I had doubts, I won’t lie, I had to believe in powers far stronger than me.

“It’s where I drew my confidence from each and every day, I felt no matter what happened in the process, I was okay.

“There was no way I could justify or explain how I was healing so quickly, some of the medical team were saying, it was not normal.

“They hadn’t seen this kind of healing and the things I was able to do at certain points.”

While the prospect of a possible second William Webb Ellis trophy is undoubtedly a carrot, Kolisi says regardless of what was remaining in his season he would do everything to return.

“I would still fight, this is why we play, it’s to put on this badge,” said Kolisi.

“I can’t explain it to anybody, the drive it gives you, it’s different when you put on a Springboks jersey.

“I can’t explain it in words, the whole country is backing you, everyone is behind you and everybody’s dreams and goals are behind you which is amazing.

“A whole country’s mood depends on what you do, while you’re doing what you love, whether it was a World Cup or not I would have worked as hard as I could to be back so I can put on the Springboks jersey again.”

Four years is a long time in rugby, for Kolisi, this additional experience has taught him a lot on how to lead his nation.

“I’ve matured a little bit, I just understand people more and that’s the most important thing for me,” said Kolisi.

“I don’t have to do everything in the group, I understand that and I don’t know everything.

“There are so many good leaders in our team I just need to stay in my lane and just be there for the guys, I barely talk with the team, I only talk with the ref.

“I’ve experienced everything you can in rugby, I’ve been in a team where I’ve not been selected so I know how it feels so I’ll try and use all my experience, but on the field we all have different roles to look after.”

Wales ‘a big challenge’ on Saturday

Kolisi’s comeback sees him come up against a Welsh side who have had their own difficulties over the past year, both on and off the field, but Kolisi thinks patience is needed from the Welsh public.

“We were also in this period before,” said Kolisi.

“Sometimes these things take time, but the people of Wales should back them and give it the time they need.

“It’s a young group but they’re hungry and you can see what they’ve done over the past couple of games, it’s a big challenge for us.

“That semi-final in 2019 was so difficult because we played a similar style of game it was all going to be on one mistake or one penalty and it was.

“This is a tough, but exciting time for Welsh rugby and that’s why our coaches are showing respect by choosing the best team possible.

“We don’t speak like this of every nation but we really do respect Wales a lot, I have no doubt they’ll come out of this period stronger.”

Saturday will mark Kolisi’s 46th cap as captain while Wales’ leader Jac Morgan will only be leading his country for the second occasion.

Kolisi says he will leave any captaincy advice for after the game.

“He’s a good leader, 23 years old, he has a couple of experienced guys around him which will help him quite a lot,” said Kolisi.

“But I can see he’s the type of leader that wants to lead by example because he plays really hard.

“The team will draw strength from him, I’m looking forward to the challenge of playing against him tomorrow, going forward I think he’ll be really good for Wales.”