Ox Nche suffered a knee and ankle injury during the Springboks big win over Japan, with Asenathi Ntlabakanye coming in as his replacement.
Hulking Lions prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye joined the Springbok squad on Sunday as a replacement for powerhouse loosehead Ox Nche, who suffered an injury during the team’s 61-7 end-of-year-tour win over Japan at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Ntlabakanye, who made his Test debut in July against Italy in the Incoming Series, after playing for the Boks for the first time against the Barbarians in June, joined the team in London on Sunday morning after representing the self-same Barbarians in their clash against the All Blacks XV in Brentford on Saturday.
The whole squad, without Nche, departed for Paris a few hours later, with the Boks taking on France in a blockbuster clash this coming weekend.
The powerful prop scored a try for the South African laden Barbarians in the second minute, which helped them enter the break 19-7 up, but a second half fight back from the New Zealand development side saw the BaaBaas eventually go down 33-19 in the clash.
Nche injury
Nche was forced to leave the field in the 18th minute against Japan on Saturday, and returned to South Africa on Sunday, where he will undergo scans to determine the extent of his injury.
“We feel for Ox, and we wish him all the best with his injury and recovery. It’s always tough to lose a player of his calibre, but Asenathi is a capped Springbok and he has been with us for a large part of the season, so he is familiar with our structures and systems,” said Erasmus.
“Adding to that, he was on our standby list for the tour, so there was always a chance he would be called up if we suffered an injury. Fortunately, he was in London already, so he arrived at the team hotel this morning and will be able to slot back into action immediately, which is fantastic for us.”
The Springboks arrived in France on Sunday afternoon and will begin their on-field preparations for Saturday’s blockbuster match at Stade de France on Monday.
