Matfield and De Jager under injury cloud
THE Springboks face a potential lock crisis going into Saturday’s World Cup semifinal against the All Blacks, with both Lood de Jager and Victor Matfield in doubt, writes Craig Ray.
De Jager, who has been one of the stars of the tournament, sustained a foot injury during Saturday’s quarterfinal win over Wales, while Matfield’s 38-year-old body is struggling to shake off a hamstring injury.
Hooker Bismarck du Plessis is also under an injury cloud.
“Bismarck has a nasty laceration on his hand, which was a result of Flo (Francois Louw) standing on him accidentally,” team doctor Craig Roberts said. “Thankfully there is no fracture there, but he is sore and swollen. He is confident he will be ready, but we have to manage him in the week.
“Lood has injured a tendon in his foot. We will give him a bit more time to see how it settles.
“Victor is coming along well and we have been doing lots of rehab with him. When you’re older, injuries like that take longer to come right. A decision will be made depending how he progresses this week. I’m not too concerned at this stage about the lock situation. We might have to bracket guys when we name the team, but that will be up to the coach.”
Louw said the Boks had not yet had a full review of the All Blacks’ 62-13 destruction of France in Saturday’s second quarterfinal, but what he had seen, had impressed him. “I managed to watch snippets of it and it was a great performance by the All Blacks,” he said.
“They were always going to be like that. Their form is not a concern for us because for us it’s the same as it’s always been — taking it week for week.
“This week it just happens to be the All Blacks in a World Cup semifinal. We’ve met them many times in the past. It’s a bit of a derby really so we know what to expect.”