Springboks suffer injury blow as Erasmus delivers update
INJURY UPDATE: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is sweating over the fitness of Ox Nché after the loosehead prop limped off early in South Africa’s 45-21 victory over England at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Nché’s participation ended after just eight minutes when he appeared to injure his knee, moments after producing a trademark burst that helped create Cheslin Kolbe’s opening try.
While the full extent of the injury will only become clear after scans, Erasmus admitted his initial assessment was far from encouraging.
“Ox came off with a knee injury, and I must be honest, it does not look good,” Erasmus said.
“It seems pretty bad and I don’t think he will be ready for Scotland next week.”
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The Springboks will now await scan results before determining whether the 30-year-old will be available next week.
Nché was not the only injury concern for the world champions.
Captain Siya Kolisi was ruled out shortly before kick-off with a hamstring strain, while Eben Etzebeth withdrew after taking a knock to the head during training earlier in the week.
There are also concerns over André Esterhuizen, who left the field shortly after coming on as a replacement following a head injury.
Kolisi is scheduled for a scan on Sunday to determine the severity of his hamstring problem.
“Eben took a knock to the head in training, and he could be okay for Scotland this week, but we wait and see,” Erasmus said.
“Siya picked up a hamstring strain late in the week, and we’re not yet sure what the grade is. It is grade one, he might recover in time.
“Andre also took a knock to the head in the second half, and we await clarification on that one.”
Despite the late disruption, South Africa’s squad depth again came to the fore.
Paul de Villiers and Cameron Hanekom grabbed their opportunities with impressive performances, while Etzebeth’s withdrawal forced Pieter-Steph du Toit to shift from flank to lock and captain the side.
Du Toit said the late reshuffle caused little disruption within the Springbok camp.
“It was no issue for me. We have systems in place for these eventualities,” he said.
“I was just pleased for the guys stepping in.
“Everyone wants to play for the Springboks. Anyone who gets that opportunity wants to go 100 percent and show they can uphold the standards, and we saw that tonight.”
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While the Springboks comfortably opened their Nations Championship campaign with victory, Erasmus’ biggest concern now will be the medical reports, with Nché’s injury appearing the most serious ahead of Scotland’s visit to Pretoria.
Erasmus added that the memories of last year’s loss to Australia did come flooding back in the coaches’ box at halftime.
“We did have flashbacks to last year and it’s easy to say after you win that you learn from mistakes, but the chat at halftime was definitely: ‘Boys we’ve been here before and we know how it feels if we don’t rectify things in the second half’,” said Erasmus.
“A lot of things that Tony [Brown] and Stokke [Mzwandile Stick] said were spot on. Obviously, we had to be really honest with one another at halftime, but luckily, we had that game last year and we could rectify things during the half-time chat.”
“It’s not a nice thing to lose two players who sit to either side of me [as the captain and the most capped player on the team photo] but you have to make the best of it.
“The average age of the team with them in it was 31 and after the other boys came in the average age was 27 and you must see the positives in that.
“Paul will certainly learn from that experience and so will Cameron [Hanekom] and Pietie [Pieter-Steph du Toit] being captain and playing four lock which he hasn’t played for a long time, so we’re happy.”
