Big injury development in Springboks camp

Just prior to the Springboks second Rugby World Cup pool clash against Romania, prop Vincent Koch unfortunately suffered an injury in the warm-up, which saw him being withdrawn from the match-day squad.

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Koch was sent for scans, and although there may have been real fears that a knee injury could force the Springbok stalwart out of the World Cup, he has remained with the squad.

Although the 33-year-old was unable to face Ireland this past Saturday, it’s notable that he has now returned to training, and should be available for selection as the Springboks prepare to face Tonga this weekend.

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POLLARD BACK WITH THE SPRINGBOKS

While Koch is back in training, it remains to be seen if he will selected to face Tonga, but there is going to be a return for Handre Pollard, who is set to feature in his first game at the World Cup

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The 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning flyhalf only returned to the playing field as a replacement for his English club Leicester on Friday, after four and a half months on the sidelines with a calf injury.

“Everyone must keep it in perspective,” said Erasmus. “Handre Pollard is not superman and can’t come back as fully ready after playing only 30 minutes of rugby since his injury.

“He can’t just come onto the field to kick goals, he must also be able to sidestep, hand-off, make tackles, clean out at the ruck and that’s obviously not the case now because he has only had a full week’s training with us.

“That’s why he wasn’t up for selection for the squad in the first place, but he is definitely up for selection this week.

“Let’s give Handre a chance to find his rhythm and see how he does with the other stuff. Tonga will be a great yardstick to see how he goes.”

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RWC FIXTURES

• Sunday, 10 September – Springboks beat Scotland 18-3 (Stade Velodrome, Marseille)
• Sunday, 17 September – South Africa beat Romania 76-0 (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
• Saturday, 23 September – Springboks lost 13-8 to Ireland (Stade de France, Paris)
• Sunday, 1 October – South Africa v Tonga (Stade Velodrome, Marseille)
• Weekend of 14/15 October – quarterfinals
• Weekend of 21/22 October – semi-finals
• Saturday, 28 October – final

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