Eben Etzebeth

Eben Etzebeth remains the only worry for the Springboks as they head into their opening week of this year’s Rugby World Cup.

While the Springboks have been trying to downplay the extent of the big lock’s calf injury ahead of Saturday’s opening game against Japan in Brighton, Dr Craig Roberts confirmed that he is still on track to make a comeback against the Japanese squad, but that a decision would only be taken later in the week.

Etzebeth remains the only injury worry in the 31-man squad and has had injury problems before, but while the medical team has ruled this a grade 1 injury, and therefore not too serious, the question will remain as to how fit he is at the moment.

Dr Roberts believes he should be ready, but the question remains, if he cannot take part in training on Monday and Tuesday, whether he should be risked in the opening game?

A lot of that will come down to what coach Heyneke Meyer wants, especially after he indicated that there are 1 or 2 players “who need a little bit more work” and therefore might not play this coming week.

Meyer of course is looking at a different set of variables than the medical team, whose job it is to get the players medically fit. Training and match fit are 2 different things altogether, with the Springbok coach looking at these when making his selection decisions this week.

“The guys are in good shape at the moment. We obviously didn’t train yesterday and today and we start with our test week tomorrow in terms of training,” Dr Roberts said.

“We have a few guys with snotty noses and that, nothing serious. The 1 guy we were worried about was Eben Etzebeth, who is coming back from that calf injury. He started running last week and we will progress him this week. A decision on his availability will be made later in the week.

“Otherwise it is up to the coach to decide who he selects for the game.”

While there have been some who believe the Springbok management are taking a huge risk by playing players who have had very little game time in the last few months, the medical team moved to allay any fears saying it had actually been a “blessing” that some of these players didn’t get game time.

Given that teams have lost players in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup, with Wales being the most tragic example, the Springboks believe their approach has been the better one and that all the senior Springboks who have struggled with injury, are ready to play.

“I’m comfortable with them but now it is up to the coach as to how he feels in terms of contact fitness and that will be his decision in terms of selection,” Dr Roberts added.

But the Doc went a step further, saying if the players weren’t fit to play, they certainly wouldn’t be with the rest of the squad in the South of England at the moment.

“It is always a balancing act. We wouldn’t put them on the field if they weren’t fit to play. That is the key thing. They are here because they are fit to play and they can go. We need to manage their loads but there are also non-injured players that we need to manage their loads. Each individual is on an individual programme. You can’t expect Victor (Matfield) to have the same training programme as Pieter-Steph (Du Toit) – they’re different. For us each player has his individual programme, we will manage it accordingly, and it depends on how big the game is and how much volume they do in the game.

“In a way the fact they didn’t play was also a blessing because it also enabled us to really work really hard on their conditioning. It is a double-edged sword because yes there isn’t game time, but you’re able to get the conditioning up to speed and the strength work that they needed. So it can be a blessing as well.”

Roberts did crack a smile when asked how challenging the season had been for the medical staff at the moment, especially given the host of injuries they had to contend with.

“It’s been up there particularly because we have been training with a very big squad, and everyone has an individual programme and to keep on top of every individual’s progress. We’ve had a plan and it is nice to see it come together. We have spent the last couple of weeks getting the players back to full fitness and getting them ready to play so that has been rewarding.

“We had some very bad injuries and I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my medical team that has worked hard, the conditioning team and also the teams at the franchises who have all worked very hard and helped us with those players. It’s been a long hard road in getting those players back.

“Rugby is a collision sport and you are going to pick up injuries. For us it is about trying to get the guys on the field and get them performing on the field. Only time will tell in terms of the performance on the field but experienced players return to form is generally quicker than other players and hopefully we can get away with guys coming here with very little game time.

“We need to give them some game time, hopefully we have 4 pool games and they hopefully go well and we can take them into the 2nd part of the tournament.”

SuperSport