Springboks head into Rugby Championship title run-in minus several injured stars
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and second-row trio RG Snyman Franco Mostert and Jean Kleyn.
Although the Springboks are on course to win this year’s Rugby Championship, head coach Rassie Erasmus is still without several of his players ahead of the final two rounds of action in the competition.
The big talking point regarding the fitness of Bok players during the tournament is the unavailability of several of South Africa’s locks and that situation is unlikely to change.
Second-row quartet unlikely to participate in Rugby Championship
According to a report in the Sunday newspaper Rapport, the four second-rowers who are currently sidelined due to injuries – Franco Mostert, RG Snyman, Jean Kleyn and Lood de Jager – will not recover in time to participate in this year’s Rugby Championship.
Mostert sustained a leg fracture in the Boks‘ loss to Ireland in Durban and it looks like he will be out of action for longer than initially expected and he will not be available for the clashes with Argentina in Santiago on September 21 and Mbombela a week later.
Meanwhile, Snyman is currently in Dublin where he is doing rehabilitation on an ongoing foot injury with his new club Leinster and he is expected to be sidelined for a few more weeks.
Elsewhere, Jean Kleyn has not seen any action for the Springboks in 2024 and according to his club Munster’s official website, the 31-year-old recently underwent eye surgery in South Africa.
Fellow injured second-rower De Jager is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury and is reportedly only set to make a return in December at the earliest while a worst case scenario will see him back in action in February 2025.
Eben Etzebeth due a break
The aforementioned injuries means Erasmus has been unable to rest experienced second-row Eben Etzebeth, who has been involved in seven out of the Boks’ eight Tests played so far this year.
The only time the behemoth lock was not included in a matchday squad was when South Africa clinched a 64-21 win over Portugal in July.
Apart from Etzebeth and Ruan Nortjé, who packed down in the Boks’ second-row against the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday, Salmaan Moerat and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg are the other specialist locks in the world champions’ current squad.
Erasmus confirmed that the Springboks will be splitting their squad for their upcoming Tests against Argentina.
That could see Moerat leading the team for the away clash with Los Pumas while Etzebeth and first choice skipper Siya Kolisi, who has to have nose surgery, are rested.
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