Springboks suffer major injury blow ahead of Rugby Championship

The Springboks have been in camp for some time as they prepare for the Rugby Championship, and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has notably revealed that there was a concern at flyhalf following a delay in Handre Pollard’s recovery from a leg injury.

Damian Willemse also took a knock to the knee, and so Elton Jantjies ultimately received a call-up to offer the team more depth in this crucial position.

MUST READ | Surprise selections for first Springboks Test of the year?

At a press conference held this week in Pretoria, Erasmus has now confirmed that Pollard is unlikely to recover in time to feature in the Rugby Championship. However, the good news is that Willemse has recovered.

“There is a bit of worry over whether Pollard will be able to play in the Rugby Championship,” Erasmus commented, as quoted by Rugby365.com.

“It’s a calf injury which he re-injured while playing for Leicester. With a re-injury, we are always a bit nervous and that is the reason why we have Elton [Jantjies] here, so that Handre can fully recover and we don’t push him too early.”

At flyhalf, Manie Libbok made his Test debut as a substitute last November, but is now expected to start in the Springboks’ opening Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies in Pretoria.

MUST READ | Springboks: ‘Elton is probably our fourth choice flyhalf’

This will be followed by a Test against New Zealand in Auckland (15 July), before returning to South Africa for their closing match of the abbreviated version of the tournament against Argentina in Johannesburg (29 July).

In other injury news, there is still at least hope that Eben Etzebeth and Jaden Hendrikse could be fit for perhaps the final Rugby Championship Test.

ALSO READ | Springboks: How many times have they won the Rugby Championship title?

SPRINGBOKS 2023 FIXTURES:

Rugby Championship:
Saturday, 8 July – Springboks vs Australia (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 15 July – Springboks vs New Zealand (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)
Saturday, 29 July – Springboks vs Argentina (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)

RWC warm-up fixtures:
Saturday, 5 August – Springboks v Argentina (Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires)
Saturday, 19 August – Springboks vs Wales (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Friday, 25 August – Springboks vs New Zealand (Twickenham, London)

ALSO READ: Kolisi hails support of Springbok teammates he can ‘lean on’

RWC fixtures:
Sunday, 10 September – Boks v Scotland (Stade Marseille, Marseille)
Sunday, 17 September – Boks v Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
Saturday, 23 September – Boks v Ireland (Stade de France, Paris)
Sunday, 1 October – Boks v Tonga (Stade Marseille, Marseille)

Weekend of 14/15 October – Quarter-finals
Weekend of 21/22 October – Semi-finals
Saturday, 28 October – Final

MUST READ | Hougaard’s shock toxicology report: Let him speak for himself, urges partner