Springboks suffer double injury blow

The Springboks have suffered a huge blow following the withdrawal of key players Handre Pollard and Lukhanyo Am ahead of the weekend's clash with Australia.

Pollard and Am have both been sent back home from the tour Down Under after suffering knee injuries in last Saturday's 25-17 defeat to the Wallabies at the Adelaide Oval.

The duo will play no further part in this Saturday's test at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, where the Boks will be hoping to end a two-match losing streak in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.

Meanwhile, Elton Jantjies and Peiter Steph-Du Toit are nursing hand and knee injuries respectively, though they will remain in camp and are expected to recover in time for the remaining fixtures against Australia and Argentina next month.

Coach Jacques Nienaber had named his squad on Tuesday, omitting both the experienced flyhalf and wing and replacing them with Damian Willemse and Jesse Kriel respectively, among eight changes made to last weekend's line-up.

œIt™s always unfortunate to lose players in a squad but this opens the door for other players to step in and showcase what they can do in those positions, said Nienaber.

œWe will now have 32 players in camp and with Elton expected to recover for the matches against Argentina and players such as Andre [Esterhuizen] and Jesse [Kriel] and Frans [Steyn] all being capable centres, we are well covered.

"Our plan from the outset of the season was to give most of the players in our expanded squad game time as we build towards the Rugby World Cup and this involved rotating a few players, so we™ll use this opportunity to build our depth.

Springboks line-up vs Australia:

Backline:

15 - Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) - 76 caps, 65 pts (13t)

14 - Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) - uncapped

13 - Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) - 53 caps, 60 pts (12t)

12 - Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) - 63 caps, 35 pts (7t)

11 - Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) - 30 caps, 105 pts (21t)

10 - Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) - 21 caps, 12 pts (1t, 2c, 1p)

9 - Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks) - 7 caps, 7 pts (1t, 1c)

Forwards:

8 - Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) - 15 caps, 0 pts

7 - Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) - 56 caps, 5pts (1t)

6 - Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) - 68 caps, 35 pts (7t)

5 - Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) - 61 caps, 25 pts (5t)

4 - Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks) - 103 caps, 15 pts (3t)

3 - Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) - 51 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 - Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) - 52 caps, 55 pts (11t)

1 - Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) - 64 caps, 5 pts (1t)

Replacements:

16 - Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) - 1 cap, 0pts

17 - Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks) - 12 caps, 0pts

18 - Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) - 57 caps, 5pts (1t)

19 - Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) - 24 caps, 15 pts (3t)

20 - Duane Vermeulen (Ulster) - 63 caps, 15 pts (3t)

21 - Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) - 21 caps, 40pts (8t)

22 - Frans Steyn (Toyota Cheetahs) - 75 caps, 150 pts (11t, 7c, 24p, 3d)

23 - Warrick Gelant (Racing 92) - 11 caps, 15 pts (3t)

By Web Admin