Ken Borland

South Africa have been hit by two major injury blows, with talismanic flank Schalk Burger playing no part in the Rugby Championship and in-form backline star JP Pietersen missing the first six weeks of the competition.

Burger, capped 68 times, injured his knee in his first SuperRugby game of the season at the end of February but there has been no progress in his rehabilitation, according to Stormers coach Allister Coetzee.

“The position with Schalk is very frustrating and we are going to get a full assessment shortly from a physician on where it should be taken from here, but you can take it as read that we won’t see Schalk play before the end of this season. Without even looking at the physician’s report, we are writing him off for the year,” Coetzee was quoted as saying by the supersport.com website.

The livewire Pietersen was one of the Sharks’ standout players during their march to the SuperRugby final and was the Springboks’ chief attacking threat during the June internationals against England.

But the 26-year-old veteran of 45 tests suffered a fracture of the thumb during the weekend’s SuperRugby final against the Chiefs and will undergo surgery on Wednesday.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has recalled Stormers centre Juan de Jongh, a 2011 World Cup player and a controversial omission from the original squad, in Pietersen’s place.

The 24-year-old De Jongh made his Springbok debut against Wales in 2010 and has 10 test caps.

“We decided to pick Juan as he provides midfield cover, an area where we are perhaps a bit thin now that JP is out,” Meyer said in a statement released on Monday.

“JP was going to provide cover for us at outside centre, while JJ Engelbrecht and Francois Hougaard can also be used on the wing, especially as Bjorn Basson [ruptured intestines] is out for another six weeks.

“Losing JP is obviously a massive blow as he’s been playing some superb rugby lately, but Juan has also been in good form for the Stormers and was one of the unlucky players to miss out on initial selection. It’s great to have Juan involved as he brings new energy with him. This call-up just shows again that no player is ever completely out of the equation.”

Powerhouse Sharks flank Willem Alberts has also gone for a scan on bruised ribs after the SuperRugby final, but the return to training of Stormers eighthman Duane Vermeulen with the Western Province Currie Cup team on Monday does somewhat soothe Meyer’s loose forward concerns.

The Springboks are having a training camp in Cape Town, before playing Argentina in their Rugby Championship opener in the same city on August 18.

South Africa then play the Pumas in Argentina, in Mendoza, on August 25 before taking on Australia in Perth on September 8 and New Zealand in Dunedin on September 15.

The Springboks end their campaign at home, with matches against Australia in Pretoria on September 29 and the All Blacks in Soweto on October 6.

South Africa finished last in the abbreviated 2011 Tri-Nations, with just one win in four matches.

England flyhalf Toby Flood used self-deprecating humour on Thursday to deflect the pressure of expectation that is on him to spark the tourists’ backline in the second test against South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Flood was on Thursday named as the starting pivot in place of Owen Farrell, who failed to use his backline to any great effect in the first test defeat last weekend in Durban.

“It will be pretty dull, I feel very old these days, it’s a struggle to get out of bed.

“The last time we played here on the highveld, we lost by 50 points in 2007 [55-22 in Pretoria] so anything less than that will be good,” Flood joked.

On a more serious note, the 26-year-old Flood said he would be using both kicking and his distribution skills to try and move the big South African side around the field.

“Going toe-to-toe with the Springboks is very difficult because they are very physical. But my point of view is to try and shift those big guys around and deny them that momentum which they can then expand on.

“The altitude will hurt us a bit, so we need to be aggressive and pragmatic. You don’t want to waste energy playing in your own half, plus Morne Steyn can kick goals from all sorts of places if you make a mistake.

“We want to manipulate the two Steyns [flyhalf Morne and inside centre Francois] and Jean de Villiers as much as possible. They’ll kick a lot and kick well, they have that ability, plus Pat Lambie and Ruan Pienaar off the bench are great kickers too. We need to nullify it, put as much pressure as we can on their kicking game, but also not narrow our game too much,” Flood told reporters in Johannesburg on Thursday.

“I don’t feel like there’s a heavy load of expectation on me, I’m just going to go out and enjoy myself. I’ll have a crack at some stage …”

Flood, who has not started a game since last year’s World Cup, said there was an exciting new atmosphere in the squad since new coach Stuart Lancaster took over at the start of 2012.

“From the outset, Stuart struck a chord with how he wanted us to go about our business both on and off the field. This is a very united squad and we want to continue to get better,” the Leicester Tigers star said.

Flood said he was excited by the chance to play with two electrifying centres outside him in Manu Tuilagi and Jonathan Joseph, who will make his first test start.

“It was more like a chess game last week, we always felt we were in the match, but suddenly we were chasing it in the last 10 minutes. That meant we were more expansive, and we can take the promise of those last 10 minutes into the second test.

“I can’t let Manu demand the ball every three seconds, but hopefully I can get him into the game more than last week. It’s Jonathan’s first real cap, but he looks sharp and I’ll just be trying to keep things light-hearted and relaxed. He has all the talent in the world, he just mustn’t over-think things,” Flood said.

Tuilagi’s opposite number is one of the bigger units in world backlines in the 1.91m, 100kg Francois Steyn.

“He’s an outstanding player and it’s going to be a huge challenge like last week against Jean de Villiers. He’s one of the best centres in the world,” Tuilagi said.

Tuilagi himself is no shrinking violet though at 112kg, the same weight as South Africa’s loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira, the famous “Beast”.

The Samoan-born Leicester representative is looking forward to being more of a threat to the South African defences now that he has moved one place inside and is closer to the action.

“I feel comfortable at 12 and I’ve played a couple of times there this season, plus for Leicester against the Springboks in 2009. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting more ball at 12 and also being able to make more tackles,” the pocket battleship grinned.

That November 2009 freezing, damp evening in Leicester is certainly one the Springboks will remember as the Tigers tore into them with great ferocity up front and Tuilagi, then an academy member, announced himself as he bashed through their midfield. The 21-year-old is relishing the chance for a repeat performance.