|
|||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Springboks suffer fresh injuries
![]() De Villier has just returned to the squad after injury absence. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South Africa rugby coach Jake White suffered further injury setbacks during a training session on Wednesday. Fly-halves Butch James (groin) and Andre Pretorius (shin splints) and lock Danie Rossouw (hamstring) were already absent from the session because of their injuries. Loose forwards Juan Smith, Jacques Cronje and Joe van Niekerk, and center Jean de Villiers were forced to make early exits on Wednesday after picking up injuries. Playmaker De Villiers, who has just returned to the squad after missing the tour to Australia and New Zealand with bruised ribs, took a painful knock to the leg, while Cronje turned an ankle and Smith and Van Niekerk tweaked a hamstring and a calf muscle respectively. "They're all busy with rehabilitation now and we've decided to cancel the training session we had scheduled for this afternoon," White said. "We're ending up with the same group of players running the same moves. "It's all a bit frustrating but the players are fatigued and we've now come to the point where they are breaking down. At least the doctor is confident all the players who got injured today should be available for the match next weekend," White said. The Springboks, who lost all three of their games in the overseas leg of the Tri-nations, play New Zealand in Pretoria on August 26. The news on Rossouw and Pretorius is bleak for the South Africans after the pair underwent MRI scans on Tuesday. "Both players will stay with us until Monday, when they will be assessed again, even though they can't do anything," White said. "Danie Rossouw is still undergoing treatment and is still in pain. He's already been out for four weeks and I thought he'd be much better off. But even if he starts running again on Monday, he won't be match fit. "Andre has compartment syndrome on his calf and shin splints on the other side. He can't even run and that would only do more damage anyway. "We'll decide on Monday whether to replace them or keep them with us and bring in extra players," White said. The beleaguered coach said he was reluctant to make drastic changes to the team, which is on a four-match losing streak after being beaten by France in Cape Town on June 24. ![]() Coach White is reluctant to make drastic changes. "We've tried Pierre Spies, Johann Muller, Butch James, Wynand Olivier and Akona Ndungane already, and there's still Chiliboy Ralepelle, Ruan Pienaar and JP Pietersen, so I don't think there's many more players we can bring up. " I'm not going to make drastic changes, we have a lot of injuries anyway." White said he also believed the Springboks' tactical approach did not need to be changed. "We've used it for the last 31 tests and the team has achieved a lot. In Sydney, we could have won but for one or two silly mistakes. "So we're not going to change too much. The challenge is to find that one test where we do everything well. "In some tests we've scrummed well, in others it's been the line-out that's gone well, or we've done well at the breakdown or it's the backs who've played well. We have to try to get all the facets right in one test," White said. New Zealand can claim the Tri-nations title if they beat Australia in Auckland on Saturday before heading to South Africa. After taking on the Springboks in Pretoria, the All Blacks play South Africa in Rustenburg, 87 kms west of Pretoria, on September 2, with the Tri-nations competition concluding with a match between the Springboks and Australia in Johannesburg on September 9.
| | |||||||||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|