PRETORIA - Springboks captain Siya Kolisi broke his silence on Saturday after surgery the previous day on an injured knee, saying "the hard work starts now".
"Op went well, the hard work starts now. Thanks for all the prayers, messages and support," the skipper of 2019 Rugby World Cup winners South Africa said in an Instagram post.
The post included a picture of a cheerful Kolisi in a Cape Town hospital bed, with his wife and two children present.
However, he did not indicate whether he will recover in time to lead the Springboks in their World Cup defence, starting with a Pool B match against Scotland in Marseille on September 10.
Kolisi suffered a partial tear to his anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) and injured the meniscus on both sides of his knee in a United Rugby Championship match against Munster last weekend.
Initially, it was feared that surgery would sideline the loose forward for up to nine months and rule him oui of the global rugby showpiece in France.
But a South African Rugby insider told AFP that "the picture is a little less gloomy now than at the beginning of the week".
Apart from leading the Springboks to World Cup glory in Japan, Kolisi skippered the green and gold to a 2-1 series triumph over the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town two years ago.
In France, South Africa will also face Ireland, currently top of the world rankings, and outsiders Romania and Tonga with the section winners and runners-up advancing to the quarter-finals.
Before the World Cup, the Springboks play Australia, arch rivals New Zealand and Argentina in a single-round Rugby Championship and Argentina, Wales and New Zealand in warm-up matches.