Jannie du Plessis

Damian de Allende

Jesse Kriel     

Victor Matfield  

Fourie du Preez

With the Rugby World Cup match against Samoa being called “brutal” by Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts, Jean de Villiers is heading home and out of the Rugby World Cup with a fractured jaw, while a long list of injuries will be assessed on Monday by the team doctor as the team start to prepare for their showdown with Scotland.

Prop Jannie du Plessis (knee), midfielders Damian de Allende (knee) and Jesse Kriel (laceration to the eye), lock Victor Matfield and scrumhalf Fourie du Preez all are on the injury list.

Depending on how they heal overnight, they should all hopefully be declared fit for the Scottish game.

De Villiers’ fractured jaw was understandably the big talking point in the team, especially as the captain had been under a lot of pressure in the lead-up to the Samoan game.

But Dr Roberts said the injury was totally unrelated to the injury he suffered against Argentina before the World Cup and which threatened his inclusion in the World Cup squad.

“It was completely unrelated. It is just unlucky, he just got hit on that side,” Dr Roberts said.

“If anything he has impacted wisdom teeth that could have weakened the jaw a little bit, but the previous fracture had nothing to do with it. If you had a completely normal jaw that collision would have done it.”

With Jean de Villiers out, Damian de Allende’s fitness becomes even more important, especially with Jan Serfontein arriving to join the squad on Monday.

The doctor said Jesse Kriel will probably be kept out of contact for a few days, but that he should be okay and he was confident about Damian de Allende as well.

“Damian has a very mild medial ligament sprain on his knee. We will reassess him tomorrow and while I don’t like to comment too early on an injury, I feel he should be ready for the weekend,” Dr Roberts said.

Victor Matfield and Fourie du Preez are on the ‘precautionary’ list and no real worries are foreseen with the duo unless the injuries are aggravated in training.

“They are on the niggle list as well. Victor has a troublesome hamstring – it started getting a bit tight and it is the hamstring he has hurt before, so we didn’t want to take any chances with him,” Dr Roberts explained.

“We pulled him off early so we can’t take any more chances. Fourie took a knock to the ribs right in the beginning of the game but he still managed to play well. I’m not too concerned about that, we might need to keep him out of contact for the 1st few sessions but he should be okay.”

Springbok prop Jannie du Plessis is also suffering from a bit of an injury, but again it is not an injury that the medical staff are too worried about.

“It is the same knee, it’s not a recurrence but it is the same knee. What I look for is instability and I don’t see any instability on that knee, so I think he will be fine.”

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