Boks sweating over star wing
Seasoned Springbok wing JP Pietersen has a mild groin strain and is doubtful for South Africa's final tour match, against England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Bok team doctor Craig Roberts said the 2007 World Cup winner and 2012 SA Players' Player of the Year will be "medically managed" this week, after he sat out training on Monday.
Pietersen picked up the injury in the weekend's 21-10 win over Scotland at Murrayfield and is the only major injury concern this week.
"We will look to progress him during the week and make a decision on his availability towards the end of the week," Roberts told a media briefing at the team's base in London.
He said it was "difficult" to make a call on the Bok flyer's prospects of facing England.
"I don't like to make a call on a Monday," Roberts said, adding: We will give him a break today [Monday], take him into straight line running and build him up to agility and see from there.
"Obviously as a wing, with a groin you have to make sure they can move comfortably."
The doctor said that there are the usual bumps and bruises, but nobody else is doubtful.
"It [the bumps and bruises] you will expect from a physical game like that [against Scotland].
"We have one or two guys we will manage at training, but we came through relatively unscathed from that [win over Scotland]."
He was also happy that veteran prop Jannie du Plessis came through the encounter with the Scots without aggravating his injury.
"We are very happy with Jannie du Plessis, how he came through the match with that ankle [injury]," Roberts said, adding: "We had to rest him quite a bit through last week, but he responded well."
Captain Jean de Villiers also came through the game nicely, after he missed a substantial portion of last week's training as a result of flu.
The wintery conditions in the Northern Hemisphere also seem to be taking its toll on the Boks.
Coach Heyneke Meyer is in bed with a bout of laryngitis, while a few other players also have the sniffles.
Roberts said he was not overly concerned with the situation.
“We've got a few sniffles and nothing that we can't deal with. It's normal for this time of the year, nothing that I'm majorly concerned about at the moment.”
