Spectre of injuries rocks Rassie

There is one major reason why Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus will have his fingers crossed as we approach the business end of the Super Rugby competition.

With only two local teams in the Lions and the Sharks still in the running for the play-offs, all that Erasmus now needs is more serious injuries before the kickoff of the Rugby Championship on August 18 in Durban against Argentina.

He must have had a few missed heartbeats last week with both of the Sharks’ Du Preez brothers, Jean-Luc and Dan, picking up knee and neck injuries and more was to follow when Stormers centre Damian de Allende cried off with a shoulder injury.

He has already had to do without the likes of locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager in the June Tests as well as No 8 Warren Whiteley, hooker Malcolm Marx and prop Trevor Nyakane, which would have greatly influenced his planning process.

Fortunately Whiteley and Marx have made their returns for the Lions, while other injured players like prop Coenie Oosthuizen and flyhalf Damian Willemse are on their way back after injuries have seen them enjoy little to no game recently.

Etzebeth’s situation, however, remains the biggest mystery having seen no game time because of an arm injury and just before he was due to return he hurt his back in training which has put him back yet again.

Earlier this week we also learned that there is concern over a back strain Bulls flyhalf Handre Pollard picked up in his team’s storming performance at Loftus Versfeld against the Jaguares last weekend.

Obviously Erasmus would be hoping either the Lions or the Sharks could go as far as possible in the competition but he definitely doesn’t need any more bad news about injuries to his leading players.

Whiteley and Marx both made satisfying returns for the Lions last week against the Sharks in Durban and it became obvious how valuable they are as players to both the Lions and the Boks.

As soon as they left proceedings in Durban with about half an hour left of the contest, the Lions started to lose their grip on matters.

Bongi Mbonambi did very well for the Boks against England, but the absence of Marx was severely felt.

He is one of a few players in the national side who could claim to be the best in their position currently in world rugby.