Rassie gives update on injured Kolbe
INJURY UPDATE: South Africa speedster Cheslin Kolbe has an “80 to 90 percent” chance of being fit for next week’s World Cup quarter-finals as he races to shake off an ankle injury, coach Rassie Erasmus said on Friday.
Erasmus said Kolbe may be able to resume full training by Monday after he twisted his ankle and limped off in South Africa’s 49-3 win over Italy a week ago.
“Cheslin has that ankle injury that he picked up against Italy, which meant he wasn’t available for the last game,” Erasmus said.
“He is still nursing that but we are hopeful that he will be training fully on Monday.
“There’s a very good chance that he will be available – I would say 80 to 90 percent.”
✔️ Pool stage
🇿🇦 What’s been your favourite #Springbok #RWC2019 moment thus far?#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/xLf3AFzssV— Springboks (@Springboks) October 11, 2019
South Africa finished second behind New Zealand in Pool B, meaning their quarter-final will be against the winners of Pool A: either Japan, Ireland or Scotland.
Erasmus said he was a “little bit nervous” about second-choice scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, who suffered a hamstring strain in Tuesday’s win over Canada.
“We only have three scrumhalves here so we want to make sure that he rather has more recovery time. So, hopefully on Monday he is also ready to go,” Erasmus said.
“Herschel won’t go home – it’s definitely not that bad an injury. It’s not even a grade one (strain),” he added.
Flank Francois Louw, 34, also has a “few bumps and bruises” including a swollen knee, Erasmus said.
“One knee is swollen a little bit – he’s at that age where after every game, he takes a little bit longer,” he said.
“He’ll be fine – we are just managing him a little bit differently to the other guys at this stage.”
⏩Fastest hat trick in @rugbyworldcup history
👏 Take a bow @c_reinach pic.twitter.com/MMD8RC01yJ— Springboks (@Springboks) October 9, 2019
The other 28 players took part in field training in steamy but overcast conditions as Japan held its breath at the approach of Super Typhoon Hagibis, which is expected to make landfall in the Tokyo region on Saturday afternoon.
World Rugby announced on Thursday that two matches – New Zealand versus Italy and England versus France – has been cancelled because of the threat to life posed by the typhoon.
The Springboks’ base in Kobe is on the far western edge of the typhoon’s path and although heavy rain and gusting winds are expected in the region later on Saturday, the city is not facing a lockdown.
“It won’t affect us in terms of training – we’re training tomorrow and then having Sunday off – and then we’ll move up to that side [Tokyo] on Monday,” said Erasmus.
“Tomorrow [Saturday] we have got a split training session which we could do indoors if the weather is too bad. So, for us, it’s not too bad in terms of the typhoon.
“Obviously it will influence the opponents we will have in the quarter-finals, so we’re just interested in following the matches as everybody else probably is.
“I’ve personally never been involved in anything like this and it’s interesting to be part of it.”
Source: AFP & SA Rugby
