New injury blow for Boks
Fourie joins De Villiers on the sidelines
The Springboks will field a new centre pairing in the second test against Scotland in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, after Jaque Fourie joined teammate Jean de Villiers on the sideline – ironically also with a rib injury.
It has been revealed that Fourie went down with a rib injury in a freak training accident on Tuesday. A scan later confirmed that he had cracked ribs.
This follows after De Villiers damaged his ribs in the first test against Scotland in Durban last Saturday, an injury that will rule him out for at least another three weeks.
The Bok coaching staff will give Fourie as much time as possible in the hope the he will recover, but that possibility looks extremely remote and the most realistic eventuality is a new midfield combination.
"With Jean already out of the match, we will give Jaque as much time as possible to see if he recovers in time," backline coach Coetzee told the media in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday. "At this stage we will not call up a replacement."
Earlier on Tuesday Coetzee had sung the praise of Wynand Olivier, the most likely candidate to take De Villiers' place at inside centre.
It now appears that André Snyman, who had a shocker on the wing in the first test against Scotland, could be moved to the midfield and wear the No.13 jersey.
Snyman played at centre in most of his 37 internationals. However, he played on the wing for English Premiership side Leeds Tykes, a move that suited him on the lower European surfaces.
Although Wayne Julies was called up to the squad earlier this week, it appears that he is destined for a place on the bench, rather than start.
Olivier's defence had been outstanding in the first Test, something which Coetzee spoke of at length in a media conference on Tuesday.
The Bok backline coach made a point of telling the media that Olivier is "a good allrounder" and that he could play at either inside or outside centre.
"His defence is good, his distribution is good, he has a good eye, he accelerates well … he is a good allround centre," Coetzee told the media.
