Springbok rugby faced another scrumhalf injury crisis after Fourie du Preez, along with Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha, was taken to hospital on Monday afternoon for X-rays on an injured foot.
Botha, who also has a foot injury, and Du Preez, did not take part in the Springbok training session at St John’s College in Johannesburg. The extent of their injuries, which they picked up in the Absa Currie Cup final on Saturday, are expected to be made known on Wednesday morning. Fourie hurt the back of his foot, said the team management.
The Springbok medical team will also be keeping a close eye on AJ Venter, the Natal Sharks utility forward, who has just recovered from a hamstring injury.
Springbok coach Jake White was not happy that Du Preez had hurt himself during the final and laid some of the blame at the door of Blue Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer.
”Fourie hurt himself playing 80 minutes of rugby when there was one scrumhalf left in South Africa and his team were 42-19 up . You have got to ask just how genuine some people are when putting their nation’s rugby first,” said White.
The Springbok coach expressed disappointment that such large criticism had been levelled at the make-up of the Springbok squad for the Grand Slam tour and the Test against Argentina.
There was no space in the 33-man team for Ettienne Botha, the Blue Bulls centre who has had an outstanding year in the Currie Cup competition. The relatively unknown Jonghi Nokwe and Tim Dlulane were selected in what some sections of the media and the rugby public slammed as ”token” selections.
White said that is was disappointing that people did not see the squad as a huge step forward and an ”opportunity” for South African rugby.
”I’ve got to show loyalty to the players who won the Tri-nations, and I get criticised for that. If I had asked the public or the media after the final whistle in Durban [when the Springboks beat Australia to win the Tri-Nations], people would have said that I was mad. Now emotion has taken over and I am asked why I am not picking Ettienne. I feel sorry for Ettienne, I think he’s played well, but as my dad said: ‘life’s not fair.’
”People ask why I picked Hanyani [Shimange] when he sat on the bench for the Cheetahs, but say nothing when we pick Danie Rossouw and he is sitting on the bench for the Bulls.”
The Springboks have an abundance of centres, with De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert perhaps the best centre pairing in the world right now.
”Jean de Villiers can also cover at centre, so can Bryan Habana, Gcobani Bobo and Jaque Fourie, so I have plenty of cover at centre,” said White, who was looking forward to a hard tour.
”Our expectations are huge now, we didn’t have the same expectations when we started the season. We wanted to win one of the games against Ireland and be competitive in the Tri-nations. Now we’ve won the Tri-nations those expectations have changed. Every team up north wants to beat us now. We’re the form team and
there’s a lot more pressue on us, but that goes with the territory.”
Percy Montgomery has been released to play for the Gwent Dragons this weekend.
He will team up with the Springboks when they arrive in Wales next Wednesday. – Sapa