Big blow for Boks as Pollard and Am ruled out of Rugby Championship

The Springboks' prospects for the remainder of the Rugby Championship took a turn for the worse when it was confirmed flyhalf Handré Pollard and centre Lukhanyo Am would take no further part in the competition.

They will return to their clubs for further medical assessments after suffering knee injuries against Australia in Adelaide last weekend, which prompted the decision to send them back to the Leicester Tigers and Sharks respectively.

Elton Jantjies (hand) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (knee) will remain in camp as they are expected to recover sufficiently from their injuries for the last two matches of the campaign.

Coach Jacques Nienaber said no replacements would be called up as the Boks have sufficient cover within the squad, but left the door open if the need arises.

“It’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.

“We will now have 32 players in camp and with Elton expected to recover for the matches against Argentina and players such as Andre [Esterhuizen], 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.”

Still, the loss of Pollard and Am are significant blows. Though Pollard was way off his best in the defeat to the Wallabies in Adelaide, much of the team's strategy is channelled through him.

In many ways Am's loss is bigger. He has been one of the form Springboks over the past two seasons. He has delivered virtuoso performances even when surrounded by underperformers.

His ability to read play and short-circuit potential problem areas has been invaluable.

His midfield partnership with Damian de Allende is, arguably, the most formidable in the Test game at the moment.

They have been the Springboks' go-to midfield pair over the past number of seasons. Though the Boks pushed different combinations into battle in their experimental line-up against Wales this year, and Argentina and Georgia last year, this is the first time the pair has been split because of injury since 2018.

In that year Am yielded to an arm fracture that kept him out of Bok colours for a year. His knee injury should not keep him out that long.

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