Six members of the Springboks 30-man Rugby World Cup squad are still struggling with injuries – Rugby News
The Springboks 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) preparations are still waiting on the recovery of six members of their squad from injuries. The Springboks team doctor, Dr. Craig Roberts, confirmed the news on Monday, August 29.
Roberts also added that the six members of the Springboks 30-man team are struggling from respective injuries. However, he added that the problems are not serious in nature and the players are expected to recover in a short span of the time. He said, “We are happy where we are with the players at the moment, but six guys are only running today, separate from the squad, to get over some injuries and niggles.”
Players who currently are struggling with injuries include Ruan Pienaar, Jean de Villiers, Frans Steyn, Victor Matfield, Pat Lambie and Bakkies Botha.
Ruan Pienaar has a minor ankle injury, while Jean de Villiers is suffering from a groin injury. Steyn and Matfield are carrying minor hamstring niggles. Lambie is afflicted with a sore shoulder while Botha is carrying a knee injury.
Dr. Roberts confirmed that these players will not take part in any of the training to ensure their timely and speedy recovery from injuries.
Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Roberts added that the remaining 24-members of the Springboks 2011 RWC squad will undergo an intense training session. He said, “We have identified this as a week to aerobically push the guys and that will definitely be a component this week.”
Dr. Roberts confirmed the return of their back row forwards’ player Schalk Burger to training with the rest of the squad. Earlier Burger missed out from the 2011 Tri Nations tournament due to a thumb injury, which he sustained earlier in the season.
Roberts further added that Burger will return to full training by next week. He said, “We are just holding Schalk back a little bit at the moment, but just because we can.”
Springboks head coach Peter de Villiers has expressed his satisfaction with the team’s preparations for their 2011 RWC campaign. However, he remained concerned regarding the number of the injuries to several of their players.
He said, “Maybe one game more would have done the trick [as far as preparations are concerned], but then we played so much rugby this year.”
South African Rugby Union (SARU) has already announced a 12 players as backups, which will join the squad in case of an injury to any player in their 30-man RWC squad during their 2011 RWC campaign.
These replacement players include the likes of Lwazi Mvovo, Zane Kirchner, Elton Jantjies, Wynand Olivier, Ashley Johnson, Charl McLeod, Jean Deysel, Alistair Hargreaves, Gerhard Mostert, Dean Greyling, Adriaan Strauss, and Werner Kruger.
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