Ken Borland

The Springboks’ most potent attacking force, Cheslin Kolbe, is currently dogged by a leg injury that could see him ruled out of Sunday’s Rugby Championship Test against Australia.

“Cheslin got a bang on his leg and was sent for treatment and assessment. It’s nothing serious and hopefully he will be okay to be named on Wednesday. He was hurt on Friday and did not take part in training today [Tuesday],” assistant coach Deon Davids confirmed.

Kolbe is the sort of player who generally makes great decisions on attack, so his absence would be a big blow for the South Africans, particularly since they are up against a Wallabies team that is likely to provide opportunities for counter-attack with their preferred expansive approach.

“The Wallabies attack has improved, but maybe their execution and decision-making has not been as good as they would have wanted. They will want to adapt how they executed in certain situations, but I think they will bring the same attacking approach, just try and do it better in certain areas.

“There was a high tempo in the matches between the Wallabies and All Blacks, they were played at very high intensity. We know that if we make mistakes then Australia are very good playing from turnover possession and we will be punished, tries have been scored from 80-90 metres out. We must be ready to defend multiple phases and our set-pieces must be good,” Davids said.

 While the Wallabies may appear to be slow learners judging by their recent results against New Zealand, Davids said it’s inevitable that their game will have moved forward just by playing the world’s second-ranked team so often in the recent past. They are taking the beatings but learning lessons at the same time.

“Australia are a quality side, very well coached and competitive and I don’t think we should be looking too closely at their recent results. I think five of their last seven games have been against the All Blacks and two of those at Eden Park. They are a young team, rebuilding, but playing so much against a quality side means they can only get better.

“It will certainly make them grow, they would have learnt so much and gained experience. They have created a lot of opportunities, but maybe they have just let themselves down a bit with decision-making or their execution. It should be a very competitive game and it will be a mistake to look at past results. It will be very hard for us,” Davids warned.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had a little dig on Thursday at Argentina lock Marcos Kremer for his role in the injury of scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, that led to the call-up of team-mate Grant Williams to the Springbok squad, but fortunately the franchise do have great depth at halfback as the Currie Cup enters its final stages.

Hendrikse was tackled after he had kicked the ball by the replacement lock in the second Rugby Championship Test last weekend, and landed awkwardly, fracturing his ankle. The incident was referred to the TMO, with referee Karl Dickson and the other officials agreeing that Kremer was committed to the tackle and it was not late.

Everitt was annoyed by the tackle though, but at least could take some solace in still being able to name 2021 Springbok squad member Sanele Nohamba and 2018 Springbok tourist Cameron Wright for their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban on Saturday.

“I was really disappointed in the way the injury happened to Jaden. I thought it was a cheap shot,” Everitt said. “But it is pleasing to see Grant get recognition after all his months and years of hard work and resilience. He has worked incredibly hard and came through the club system [College Rovers] in Durban.

“Sanele has been with the Springboks as well and has played really well for us in his last two games, while Cameron was really good against the Cheetahs when he started. We are really blessed with our depth at scrumhalf, they have all bought into rotation and the ranking order sometimes changes, which certainly motivates everyone to work hard,” Everitt said on Thursday.

The Sharks are coming off an impressive 56-14 demolition of the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend. Although it all worked out more than okay in the end, some mediocre set-piece work at the start of the match saw them struggle in the opening quarter. Former Western Province lock Gerbrandt Grobler, who debuted for the Sharks last weekend and looked good to go for the rest of the year, is the only member of the tight five who retains their starting position for Saturday.

“We’ve rotated the front row, we’ve not really had much consistency in that department and we know Western Province have a formidable front row so we will try to negate that strength. Emile van Heerden is still working through the concussion return-to-play protocols and it’s great to have Le Roux Roets back after he had played so well.

“Gerbrandt gets the opportunity for more game-time and we would like him to really hit his straps in the coming weeks. He had not played for quite a long time since returning from France, but that cover-tackle he made on Wandisile Simelane on the Highveld at 2pm will live long in the memory. He’s an experienced campaigner and clearly a competitor. He’s made a great mark with us already,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Curwin Bosch, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Sanele Nohamba, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Lourens Adriaanse, Reniel Hugo, Thembelani Bholi, Cameron Wright, Marius Louw, Anthony Volmink.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was pleased to report after their second Rugby Championship match against Argentina that their injury problems at loose forward are easing, but he has fresh worries over the scrumhalf position, which was already in crisis before the 29-10 win at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The Springboks were in complete control of proceedings for three-quarters of the game, but things began to go awry towards the end when they were forced to play with 14 men when replacement scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse suffered an unfortunate leg injury in a tackle.

The 21-year-old Hendrikse was himself brought into the squad due to injuries to Faf de Klerk and Herschel Jantjies, and Nienaber admitted he was probably going to have to call up another scrumhalf. Sanele Nohamba, also a Sharks player, is potentially in line for a recall having been part of the squad for the British and Irish Lions series and playing for SA A.

“I spoke quickly with the doctor and he said Jaden had everything of his weight on the leg so it might not be a ligament injury, it might actually be bone. It takes us four weeks to get a player abroad – counting backwards, we would like that player to have one week of training, there’s two weeks of quarantine before that and they also have to go through the protocol of multiple tests before that at home.

“It’s why we need a minimum of four scrumhalves. The severity of Jaden’s injury will be the big thing, but I think he’s in trouble. We had four scrumhalves but only two were standing in the build-up to this game. At least Faf de Klerk is running well again. And fortunately I think three out of four of our injured flanks should be right to play our next game,” Nienaber said.

Duane Vermeulen is taking contact again in training, Jean-Luc du Preez has recovered from his medial ligament strain and Rynhardt Elstadt is almost back to full fitness, according to the coach.

As if injuries were not complicating their planning enough, the Springboks, who were meant to fly to Australia on Sunday, don’t even know who they are playing next in the Rugby Championship or where, after New Zealand’s amazingly late decision not to play in Perth this coming weekend or host their scheduled matches against South Africa after that.

Nienaber said hosting the rest of the tournament on the Highveld would be ideal for the Springboks, but they have become used to changes being sprung on them at the last moment.

“Things change rapidly with Covid so we have five plans loaded. We will be staying in Gqeberha until Tuesday/Wednesday, by then we will hopefully know if we’re staying in South Africa. If we have to travel, there are different plans for Brisbane, France, the UK or America. We have to be adaptable but I honestly don’t know where we will be going.

“We would love to host the rest of the competition, South Africa showed we can do it in the Lions series, which is the next biggest thing in the Southern Hemisphere after the World Cup. Everything is lined up and ready and I wold prefer to play in Gauteng at altitude. That would be nice for us,” Nienaber said.

Lood de Jager’s Springbok career has been a saga of triumph and disappointment, but the 28-year-old still counts himself as being fortunate and accepts his many injury problems as just being part of his journey.

The East Rand product will play his 50^th Test for South Africa against Argentina on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the sixth specialist lock to reach that milestone. De Jager made his debut off the bench on June 14, 2014 against Wales in Durban and has now played in two World Cups, his outstanding displays in the 2015 edition winning him the SA Player of the Year title.

But he has had more than his fair share of injuries, especially in the shoulder region. De Jager missed the start of the Rassie Erasmus reign in 2018 because he had torn his pectoral muscle in Super Rugby that May, but did make two appearances off the bench on the end-of-year tour of Great Britain.

He injured the other shoulder in the triumphant 2019 World Cup final, and then the same shoulder went in September 2020. He had just returned to the field for the Sale Sharks in April when he suffered a freak training accident that broke his fibula and tore his knee ligaments. He did exceptionally well just to make the Springbok squad for the British and Irish Lions series, but of course was one of the players who came down with Covid.

But De Jager’s determination saw him return for the Springboks in the second Test, and his arrival in the second half certainly changed the fortunes of the team, especially in the lineouts.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of some real highs but some real lows too. I guess I’ve had a few more injuries than normal, but it’s just part of my journey and I must just adapt and come back stronger. I’m not a naturally fit person so it’s quite hard to regain that Test match intensity. Training does not come close to game intensity and I had just come back from injury when I caught Covid.

“But if you look at the history of Springbok rugby, lock has always been one of the positions with the best players, so I have a massive responsibility to go out and perform and make the jersey proud,” De Jager said this week.

De Jager’s positivity brings thousand of lux of shining happiness to the Springbok squad and coach Jacques Nienaber had nothing but praise for the giant with the metal shoulders.

“I take my hat off to him for all the ups and downs he has been through – that shoulder injury in the World Cup and then an unfortunate leg injury. He is slowly getting back to his full match-fitness, he’s played around 200 minutes now and I am very happy for him. It’s fantastic when players reach milestone games, that can only be good for us,” Nienaber said.