Mike Greenaway
Pieter-Steph du Toit is set to return to the Springbok second row far sooner than he would have imagined because of a deepening lock crisis in the fold of the world champions.
Bok bruiser Eben Etzebeth has been added to the injury list and while forwards coach Deon Davids has not completely ruled him out, the Boks have a firm policy of not selecting a player who cannot train on the Monday before a match and yesterday Etzebeth was unlikely to train because of “a niggle”.
Exacerbating the problem is that RG Snyman has failed a fitness test on his foot injury and Salmaan Moerat remains ruled out because of concussion protocols.
Snyman was due to start in the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane earlier this month only to suffer a late injury. His replacement, Ruan Nortje, got injured in the warm-up and Du Toit was moved from flank to lock and produced a Player-of-the-Match performance.
Snyman has been injury-prone almost since the 2019 World Cup, with injuries to his knees and shoulders keeping him out of the game for whole seasons while a freak burn suffered at a Munster end-of-season bonfire party kept him out for months.
“RG is not available due to a leg injury. I can’t go into detail with that, but he’ll be out for a couple of weeks,” Davids said.
“Salmaan is following the normal head injury assessment protocols, so he won’t be available for selection. We’ve got a bit of a hoodoo when it comes to our locks, with Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert and Jean Kleyn on our long-term list.
“Eben is also struggling with a bit of a niggle and that’s something we’ll look at in terms of his availability. We’ll have to wait for the doctor’s feedback but Monday’s training rules remain part of our protocol and it is applied every time.”
In Brisbane, Ben-Jason Dixon replaced Du Toit at No 7 and had a strong game. Coach Rassie Erasmus will have no issue going with the same selection but the thorny problem is who to start with Du Toit as the options available are almost all No 5 locks.
Nortje starting with Du Toit doesn’t have the right ring to it in terms of physicality and Erasmus could well start with Nico Janse van Rensburg, whom he recalled to the squad last week. The 30-year-old played a single Test for the Boks back in 2021 and has been in France since, with Montpellier.
At 2m tall and just under 120kg, Janse van Rensburg is an out-and-out No 4. Davids said that the situation will provide opportunities for up-and-comers.
“We have Pieter-Steph and Ruan, who had a good game in Perth and there’s also a guy like Nicolaas, who has come in. There’s also Ben-Jason, who has played at lock for the Stormers, but it is always tough when you lose some experience.
“However, it is also exciting to see the quality that the next guy could bring into the squad,” Davids added.
“Barrett will be back this week and it will be massive from a leadership and playing point of view for New Zealand to have him back.”
The All Blacks also have decisions to make at lock. They have been in a period of transition in the position after the retirement of Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick after last year’s World Cup.
Davids says they will be boosted by the return from injury of captain Scott Barrett.
“Barrett will be back this week and it will be massive from a leadership and playing point of view for New Zealand to have him back,” he said.
“Whitelock and Retallick are quality players and any team that loses that quality will take some time to rebuild, but they have some good youngsters coming through, and with the leadership of Barrett and Patrick Tuipulotu around them they will grow in stature.”
The Bok team for Saturday’s Test will be named around midday today.