The touring All Blacks have already lost four players to injury, and the Test series hasn't even started.
Jurenzo Julius of the Sharks with All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke after last week’s match in Durban. Clarke is one of four New Zealand rugby players ruled out of the All Blacks’ tour of South Africa so far. Picture: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
The first Test between the Springboks and All Blacks takes place this week and already both teams have been hit by injury blows.
In fact, the provincial teams the tourists have come up against in the last 10 days have also had huge numbers of players listed under “injured”.
It seems more and more players are getting hurt in rugby. And this at a time when World Rugby and the powers that be are seemingly doing everything they can to reduce the number of injuries.
The All Blacks have already lost Billy Proctor, George Bell, Caleb Clarke and Ollie Norris on their tour of South Africa. That’s four players in just over a week. Who will be next?
There is also doubt about the availability of Bok captain Siya Kolisi to lead the Boks in the first Test this week, after he hurt his hamstring in Buenos Aires 10 days ago. This after he’d been out for several weeks with his other hamstring giving him problems.
We also don’t know if Ox Nche is fit to face the All Blacks, or who else might be carrying a niggle.
Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Morné van den Berg are also among the players who missed the recent Nations Championship because of injuries.
One can only hope Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series doesn’t see several star players ruled out of action. That would be a great pity. There are four Tests to come, and still the provincial match, for the All Blacks, against the Lions on Tuesday.
Currie Cup niggles
But it’s not only at the top, at Test level, where players are suffering injury setbacks.
The Currie Cup teams also have long lists of players who’re unavailable because of injury.
The Cheetahs, who faced the Bulls in a round five match at Loftus on Sunday, have more than 15 players out injured, including key man Faf de Klerk.
The Sharks, too, who took a beating by the All Blacks last Tuesday, also have a long injury list, something they say they need to address urgently. It is odd that the team from Durban have been dealt several injury blows in recent times.
Is it the type of training the teams are doing, poor medical care or something else that is causing all the injuries? Are older players simply more susceptible?
Either way, here’s hoping for limited injuries in the Boks-All Blacks Tests.
