Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu could be back in time for the Springboks’ one-off Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires on August 8, head coach Rassie Erasmus says.
He was speaking after his team defeated Scotland 42-28 in their Nations Championship match at Loftus Versfeld, looking ahead to his options for the Wales contest in Durban on Saturday.
Erasmus promised to assemble a match-day 23 with more experience than the one he fielded against the Scots, though Saturday would be too early for Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who broke a bone in his ankle in May.
“I will probably, for next week Monday, get Sacha into the group because he might be ready for Argentina or, after Argentina, for New Zealand.”
The All Blacks and South Africa play the first Test of their upcoming four-match series at Ellis Park on August 22.
Erasmus was keen to get Ethan Hooker another run on Saturday, saying he didn’t think the winger suffered a concussion but rather got “pinged” in the mouth.
Canan Moodie, who withdrew before the match because of a tight hamstring after a week during which he felt ill, could also get a run, possibly at outside centre.
“Morne van den Berg is really close to fitness, and then a guy like Siya [Kolisi] might be ready. Lood [de Jager] hopefully is ready. It will be a combination of some guys coming back from injury and making sure we have more caps than the opposition when we run onto the field because today [Saturday] we were totally outnumbered by caps and experience.”
While the inexperienced Boks were good enough to beat a Scottish side Erasmus rated, the coach also noted that there were plenty of veterans waiting in the wings.
“When you walk out today [Saturday] and you see Ox [Nche], you see Malcolm [Marx], then you see Eben [Etzebeth], then you see Siya and you see Jaco Reinach, then you think about Sacha and you see Manie [Libbok], then Damian de Allende and you see Cheslin [Kolbe] there, and you see Kurt-Lee [Arendse] there and you see Canan there and you see a lot of guys who are still outside.”
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said the Boks were worth their billing as the top side in the world. “They showed it again today. They’ve obviously got huge strength and depth.
“They won a number of games in November when they were down to 14 men and they found a way to win today.”
BJ Dixon was yellow-carded early in the second half, but Scotland were unable to take advantage during the 10 minutes he was off.
“I would like to think or hope that they knew they were up against a serious opponent today and we’re disappointed we didn’t win.
“But credit goes to them for finding a way to win.”
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