Question marks remain over Bok star's playing future

SPOTLIGHT – LONDON: Springbok team doctor Jerome Mampane has provided an update on injured Springboks Steven Kitshoff and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Kitshoff has been out of action for the last couple of months after he sustained a neck ligament injury while playing for Western Province in a Currie Cup match against Griquas.

Last weekend, in an interview with News24, Kitshoff revealed that he will have “fusion [surgery] booked for November 20”.

There has been speculation that the 32-year-old’s career could be over, but Mampane said a lot needs to happen before an official announcement on Kitshoff’s future is made.

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“With Kitshoff, there is still quite a bit of an assessment phase that is going on,” Mampane told reporters from the Bok camp in London ahead of Saturday’s fixture against England at Twickenham Stadium.

“In terms of whatever announcement that needs to be made, we should, hopefully, in the next month or two get some sort of clarity as to what his position is.

“As I understand from his good friend, he is doing quite a lot of travelling at the moment, so it sounds like he is in good spirits.

“I don’t know, physicality, if it’s also translating.”

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There was a more positive update on Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who has been out of action with a knee injury.

His last outing was against the All Blacks in Cape Town in September.

“From what I’ve seen from Sacha and the conversations that I’ve had, it seems he is on the road to mending well,” said Mampane.

Meanwhile, Mampane believes the Springboks are on track to field a fresh pack against England clash despite the six-day turnaround after their 32-15 win over Scotland last Sunday.

The Springboks employed a seven-split between forwards and backs on the bench for the Murrayfield clash to help them achieve that goal.

“We came out of that one pretty much unscathed and the theme in the planning was a lot of freshness,” Mampane explained.

“The freshness of players and the freshness around the seven-one split. That is what the coaches planned together as a group and I think we’ve achieved that.

“I wouldn’t say training is a little lighter. I think there are still targets that need to be met and the coaches are as focussed as ever.

“I just think what we required medically and scientifically, was good fresh players.

“You want to make sure you go into each contest as best as you can and in the best shape.

“If you look at the year we’ve had with the number of injuries, it’s great to see players like Franco Mostert returning.

“We are in a good space.”

@rugby365com