Lock Flip van der Merwe and centre JJ Engelbrecht are the only real injury concerns for the Springboks at the start of the build-up week to Saturday’s crucial Castle Lager Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies at Newlands.
Van der Merwe injured a glute muscle in the match against the All Blacks in Auckland, and he was forced to sit out training in Cape Town on Monday morning.
Engelbrecht, who is battling with a bruised muscle, also didn’t participate in the full session.
“We will be looking to get Flip through the final phase of his rehabilitation from his injury during the course of this week,” said team doctor Craig Roberts.
“JJ picked up a lammie in that game and with both of them, their availability for Saturday will depend how they get through training during the course of the week. Gurthro Steenkamp has a grade one AC joint injury and was unable to take contact today but we expect him to be ready to face the Wallabies.”
Of the three, the Van der Merwe injury appears to be the most serious and the one most likely to impact on the selection of the team for Saturday.
“A glute injury is always a concern as it's one of those that doesn’t just clear up easily,” said coach Heyneke Meyer.
Van der Merwe is not necessarily a certain starter for Newlands even if he is fully recovered in time to be selected.
Wallaby skipper James Horwill is expected back for this game after missing the big defeat to the Boks in Brisbane a few weeks ago, and a fortified visiting lineout might bring Juandre Kruger, who played well as a replacement in Brisbane, into the mix.
Juan de Jongh, the Western Province centre, and Sharks lock Pieter-Steph du Toit have been added to the squad for the home leg of the Championship and could be in line for bench roles this week should Engelbrecht or Van der Merwe be forced to sit out.
Meyer said there might be a few changes to the team that lost to the All Blacks last time out, but not many.
“There might be a change here and there but the guys are used to playing together so I would like to keep the combinations together as much as possible. We have also scheduled a few selection rotations that were agreed upon before the international season started.”
What Meyer was probably referring to there was at hooker, where Adriaan Strauss is expected to return to the No 2 jersey for this test, with Bismarck du Plessis expected to start in the potential Championship decider at Ellis Park against the All Blacks the following week.
Well we may see Jan starting and Du Toiyt given a shot. Not really a problem.
