Willie le Roux
Jannie du Plessis
The Springboks have two main injury concerns following their bruising 31-28 victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday.
Prop Jannie Du Plessis hobbled off in the 64th minute of the game after he went down awkwardly at the breakdown, which team doctor Craig Roberts is currently investigating.
“Jannie hyper-extended his knee in a ruck and was caught quite awkwardly. His foot got stuck in the ground and couldn’t bend his knee which ended up overstretching his hamstring and hyper-extending his knee.
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“He will undergo a scan on his knee and hamstring Monday and, at this stage, he is very doubtful for the Italy match.
“Unfortunately, I can’t give a firm diagnosis on the extent of the injury at this moment but we will have something more concrete after he has had the scans,” he said.
The other injury concern is that of Willie le Roux who took a knock to his cheek while offloading the ball in the build-up to the 42nd minute, Cobus Reinach try.
“Willie took a knock to his cheek in an offload before the try. Initially it didn’t look too bad but it swelled up overnight and we will be taking him for x-rays to see the extent of the damage.
“If it’s a cracked cheekbone, then he will be out for at least three to four weeks, which rules him out for the remainder of the tour. As precaution, he won’t training today,” he added.
Roberts was happy with the condition of the rest of the squad as the usual bumps and bruises were visible. Furthermore, those players who have had extra workloads fro the previous two weeks will be managed accordingly in order to give them adequate recovery time.
“The guys who had a big load and big week will be managed. Beast got quite bad cramps toward the end of the game which is a sign of fatigue and will be managed accordingly.
“The players who will be managed include the likes of Duane Vermeulen and Marcell Coetzee,” he said.