Boks bring in a Bull after big injury blow
TEAM UPDATE: Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was forced to make a change to his team for their opening Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies in Pretoria on Saturday.
Prop Retshegofaditswe Nche suffered an injury to his pectoral muscle on Tuesday and is expected to be out of action for several weeks, which has ruled him out of the Southern Hemisphere showpiece.
As a result, Steven Kitshoff was withdrawn at the last minute on Tuesday from the early travelling squad to Auckland for next week’s clash against the All Blacks and drafted directly into the starting line-up for the Wallabies encounter at Loftus Versfeld.
Former Junior Springbok prop Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls) has been drafted into the national squad, and had his first training session with the team on Wednesday. The talented 26-year-old will travel to New Zealand on Wednesday to train with the players who departed on Tuesday.
Experienced prop Trevor Nyakane is also training with the squad in Pretoria and will continue to serve as back-up cover with Elton Jantjies (flyhalf) and Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalf) for the Australia Test.
“It’s never ideal to lose a player to injury days before an important Test match, but unfortunately it’s part of the game,” said Nienaber.
“We are particularly sad for Ox because he’s been working very hard in the last few months and making a great contribution on and off the field. We wish him a speedy recovery.”
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#⃣BREAKING: South Africa will feature a brand-spaning new @Springboks kit when they tackle Australia in the opening match of the @SanzarTRC in #Pretoria on #Saturday 🇿🇦
🤔What is your take on this⁉️#Rugby 🏉#RugbyUnion🌏
🔗https://t.co/sHaz5rJLf1 pic.twitter.com/BVQwIYRinn— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) July 4, 2023
Nienaber added: “On the upside we have players like Steven and Trevor to fall back on, and with both players having been with us in Pretoria for the last three-and-a-half weeks, it’s an easy switch for this match.
“We’ve always emphasised the importance of being adaptable as a team and that will be particularly important this season with the Rugby Championship, World Cup warm-up games and the global showpiece itself coming up.
“We are fortunate to have such depth at our disposal. We’ve been tracking between 50 and 60 players in the last few seasons with an eye on the World Cup, so we know what talent we have at our disposal.
“This will also be a fantastic opportunity for Gerhard to experience our systems and to be in the national setup. He’s been impressive for the Bulls this season and he’s a former Junior Springbok, so we are excited to see what he has to offer at training.”
Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White congratulated Steenkamp, noting that it is good to see hard work being rewarded.
“To get called up to the national setup is a wonderful opportunity for any rugby player who is patriotic about his country,” said White.
“Gerhard has consistently worked extremely hard over the past few seasons with us and this chance is a nice reward for him and all those around him.
“I am proud of him. As the Bulls, we will be cheering the team on.”
South Africa – revised: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Rudolph Snyman, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse.
Date: Saturday, July 8
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT; 01.00, Sunday, July 9 AEST)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
