Injury concerns for Boks ahead of Scotland clash

South Africa’s decisive 45-21 win over England came at a price and has left the Springboks sweating over the availability of key players ahead of Saturday’s showdown against Scotland at Loftus, coach Rassie Erasmus said.

Fiery prop Ox Nché limped off early with what appeared to be a knee injury during Springboks’ victory in their opening Nations Championship clash at Ellis Park, in Johannesburg.

In addition, Bok skipper Siya Kolisi was ruled out shortly before kick-off with a hamstring strain, and veteran lock Eben Etzebeth withdrew after taking a knock to the head during training.

There are also concerns over André Esterhuizen, who left the field with a head injury shortly after coming on as a replacement.

“Ox came off with a knee injury, and I must be honest, it does not look good,” Erasmus said. “It seems pretty bad, and I don’t think he will be ready for Scotland.

“Eben took a knock to the head in training, and he could be OK for Scotland this week, but we wait and see. Siya picked up a hamstring strain late in the week, and we’re not yet sure what the grade is. It is grade one; he might recover in time.

“Andre also took a knock to the head in the second half, and we await clarification on that one.”

Replacements Paul de Villiers and Cameron Hanekom grabbed their opportunities with both hands and shone in the win at Ellis Park.

Etzebeth’s withdrawal resulted in versatile Pieter-Steph du Toit moving from flank to lock and taking over the captaincy.

Erasmus said memories of last year’s loss to Australia at Ellis Park resurfaced after England ended the opening half strongly. Eleven months ago, the Boks surrendered a 22-0 lead over Australia on the way to 38-22 defeat, but this time there was no mistake.

The Boks scored three tries, surging into a 17-0 lead over England after just 12 minutes, but led by only three points at halftime as the visitors took control of the second quarter.

“We did have flashbacks to last year [against Australia],” Erasmus said. “The chat at half time was definitely along the lines of ‘boys, we’ve been here before, and we know how it feels if we don’t rectify things in the second half’.

“A lot of things that Tony Brown and Mzwandile Stick [assistant coaches] said were spot on. Obviously, we had to be really honest with one another at halftime, but luckily, we had that game last year and we could rectify things during the halftime chat.

“It’s not a nice thing to lose two players like Siya and Eben, but you have to make the best of it. The average age of the team with them in it was 31, and after the other boys came in, the average age was 27, and you must see the positives in that.

“Paul will certainly learn from that experience, and so will Cameron Hanekom and Pieter-Steph du Toit being captain and playing fourth lock, which he hasn’t played for a long time, so we’re happy.”

Du Toit said the Boks had adjusted well to the late reshuffle.

“It was no issue for me. We have systems in place for these eventualities,” he said. “I was just pleased for the guys stepping in.

“Everyone wants to play for the Springboks. Anyone who gets that opportunity wants to go 100% and show they can uphold the standards, and we saw that tonight.”

The Herald