More injuries for battered Boks
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer must have upset lady luck something terrible.
For the second week in a row South Africa snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, after New Zealand captain Richie McCaw scored a clever try six minutes from time to secure a 27-20 victory over arch-rivals South Africa in a crucial Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The defeat came one week after the Boks conceded an even later try, in the 80th minute, to fall 20-24 against Australia in Brisbane.
However, while their failure to close out games from seemingly winning positions may sting, the mounting injury toll is of far greater concern..
With an already alarming list of injuries before the Rugby Championship even got underway, the Boks lost line-out kingpin Victor Matfield and star flank Marcell Coetzee after the Brisbane heartbreaker.
And the run of bad luck got worse with two props, two more lose forwards and another lock all added to the team's hospital list.
"It is really frustrating," Meyer told the post-match media briefing at Ellis Park.
"We played some really positive rugby, but it was a big blow with Jannie [du Plessis] going off [with a knee injury]. I felt we really scrummed well up to that point.
"It didn't help that Vince [Vincent Koch] came on and he was injured [suspected fractured ribs] as well.
"It was a big turning point when Francois Louw [injured shoulder] went off.
"Then we lost Lood [Lodewyk e Jager], the same as Victor [Matfield, with a hamstring injury] last week.
"Losing those three forwards, who we need in the last 15 minutes, were a big setback.
"Lood should be fine [for the Test against Argentina in Durban in a fortnight].
"With Jannie, the doctor is worried about his MCL [medial collateral ligament].
"With Flo [Louw], the doctor is worried about his shoulder – which he popped.
"[Replacement loose forward] Warren Whiteley has suspected fractured ribs, the same as Vincent [Koch].
"I though that [injuries] had a huge impact on the game."
Meyer said that while losing another lock to injury is concerning, the biggest loss was Louw.
"He [Louw] was superb at the breakdown, we didn't give them any quick ball and set our lines. I thought the two openside flanks played rally well with [captain] Schalk [Burger].
"When Francois went off we lost a lot of experience and they [New Zealand] started to get quick ball."
"This resulted in us having to use the bench much earlier than we wanted, and even using Adriaan Strauss as a flank.
"I am happy that our plans worked well, but when the injuries struck, we lost too much momentum."
By Jan de Koning at Ellis Park
@King365ed
@rugby365com
