Coach Rassie Erasmus insists the Springboks’ injury situation is not nearly as serious as it has been portrayed. LINDIZ VAN ZILLA reports.
Speaking in Cape Town on Thursday ahead of the start of their 2026 campaign, Erasmus provided an extensive injury update.
He revealed that of the regulars only lock RG Snyman and loose forward Kwagga Smith are out for the rest of the year, while hooker Malcolm Mark (upper arm) and Eben Etzebeth (hip) are fit and ready to fire.
“Eben will be ready, Malcolm is also ready,” Erasmus confirmed. “If you look at the really long-term injuries, the guys who will only be ready next year, it’s probably only RG and Kwagga.
“Those are the players who would regularly feature in our match 23. The other injuries are mostly players still finding their feet in the system or guys who haven’t consistently been part of the match-day squad.”
ALSO: Boks call up lock replacement
The Bok coach also delivered encouraging news on several key players.
Grant Williams has recovered from injury, while another scrumhalf, Morné van den Berg, is on the road to recovery after undergoing bicep surgery.
“Krappie [Van den Berg) will possibly be available by the time we play New Zealand [in August], or even Scotland and Wales [in July],” Erasmus said.
Flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and utility back Ethan Hooker are also progressing well.
“Sacha should be ready about four weeks before the New Zealand matches,” Erasmus added. “Ethan is on a similar timeline.”
Erasmus said scrumhalf Cobus Reinach “could be ready for England but it will be a push” and that while the Boks “desperately wanted to beat England, it would be foolish” to take that risk.
“If he hears me say this he will get upset, but he will probably only join the squad after the three incoming matches [England, Wales and Scotland].”
Erasmus added that props Frans Malherbe and Trevor Nyakane remained long-term injuries “but we are hoping they can come back still”.
Erasmus admitted the Boks had been looking to utilise Lions utility forward Ruan Venter at lock, but he is out for the season after a serious knee injury, along with veteran Deon Fourie (also knee).
“But would Deon have made the match 23 in most of the games?” Erasmus asked. “He would have been when we rotated or if we were really in trouble.”
Erasmus cautioned against focusing solely on the injury list.
“I don’t want people to look at the list and think we’re in trouble, because that’s not the case,” he said.
“We’ve actually got a lot of players available and the challenge at the moment is figuring out how to give everyone game time.”
Photo: Johan Orton/Gallo Images
The post Rassie plays down Bok injury concerns appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Coach Rassie Erasmus insists the Springboks’ injury situation is not nearly as serious as it has been portrayed.
The post Rassie plays down Bok injury concerns appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
