Springbok tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis will miss the second Tri-Nations Test against the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday.
Du Plessis suffered a Grade 2 strain to his calf muscle in the first encounter at Eden Park in Auckland last weekend and has been ruled out by the medical team.
This paves the way for either BJ Botha or CJ van der Linde to start at Westpac Stadium at the weekend. Du Plessis will continue to receive treatment for the injury.
Speaking at a press conference in the New Zealand capital on Monday, team doctor Craig Roberts confirmed Du Plessis’ injury was the only concern after the bruising 12-32 defeat to the All Blacks.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers told media there was no panic in the Springbok ranks following the weekend’s disappointing result. “The way you lose is not as important as how you stand up from such a defeat,” he said.
“The guys know they didn’t perform well, they remain proud and they realise they have hard work ahead of them this week.
“The All Blacks were very good at the weekend and they did not allow us space to play the way we wanted.”
Asked about suggestions that the Springbok players had been affected by travel fatigue, De Villiers said: “The players are professionals and travel is part of their daily lives.
“They are no strangers to travelling here as they do so in Super 14. We can’t look for excuses. The All Blacks were better than us, it’s as simple as that.”
Oi, our thin tighthead ranks are now rock bottom…..
I don’t want to say I told you so, because it is water under the bridge now!
I did not plead for nothing a few weeks ago, but had Snorrie given another tighthead a go in the preceeding matches, we would have known whether such tighthead is up to International expectation….. now it bites us in the arse.
Very true GBS and if Jacque Fourie gets injured then we will also have a massive problem..
2@ Winston:
Yip…. in fact all the options in broadening combinations was neglected during the preparatory matches prior to the Tri-Nations…
Do we know who our best inside centre is to partner Jaque… no, now we have renewed speculation that Jean should start there…. but was’nt he one of the worst defenders on the day??
What happens should Jaque get injured, who will play there… will it be De Jongh, De Villiers or who else?
Same with scrummie… we will probably now never know how Ruan would compliment play at No 9 as a starter, because he was never played as a starter in the 4 “Practise Tests”.
Do we even know who is really our ideal backup to Morné Steyn at flyhalf… no because Butch was so damn ordinary in the build-up games and might I add on Saturday as well.
Who gets to wear No 14 now that the Jean experiment there failed so miserably?
Did we have a pure fetcher in the squad in case the Unconventionable Loosie combo of Louw partnered with Schalla and Spies did not pan out… to have an option No 2 and attack ground-ball better. The answer is simple, no we don’t and I for one hope that Francois Louw only had an off-day on Saturday.
At lock Danie Rossouw now has to step into Bakkies’s boots, bar the ill-dicipline part, and continue to show the form he had in the Super 14. Vic better get things back in shape again as well. You see, here Snorrie did experiment with Hargreaves in the build-up…. but that was stupid experimentation, if you ask me.
I wonder if Snorrie, Tricky Dickie and Gary Glitter did not believe their own hype…. just to be cut right down to size on Saturday?
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