In what is a major setback for the Springboks, it has been confirmed that star Springbok wing Bryan Habana is unlikely to take part in this Saturday’s Tri-Nations encounter against Australia after sustaining a “grade one tear of the hamstring” this past weekend.
SuperRugby reports that Habana was replaced early in the second half when the Boks lost dismally to the All Blacks this past weekend at Newlands and it was revealed on Monday at a press conference in Durban that he could be out for up to ten days.
Further tests will be carried out on Tuesday and he is sure to be given every chance to recover but his chances of being fit to face Australia are not looking good.
Bok coach Peter de Villiers conceded it was a major seback, especially considering experienced lock Bakkies Botha has already been ruled out of the remainder of the Tri-Nations.
Otherwise there are no other major injury concerns for the Boks. Hooker Bismarck du Plessis was not at training and is suffering from some “bumps and bruises” while loose-forward Danie Rossouw has undergone a lower back scan but both should be fine to play on Saturday.
Sharks star Ruan Pienaar has also joined the squad and could be drafted into the match-day 22 to provide both cover at flyhalf and scrumhalf.
Two bonus-point victories over the Wallabies in their remaining two fixtures would keep the Boks in the Tri-Nations title hunt but even if they were to achieve this, they would still have to rely on the Aussies beating the All Blacks in the final match.
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Not good news on Habana at all.
I like the way there is NO speculation on a possible replacement. 🙁
Voldy article says Nokwe and Adriaan Strauss have also joined the squad.
While Habana will be missed, it may be Nokwe’s chance to show us he can against top opposition. Now I know he did show us at super14 level and against Argentinia, but I get the feeling he needs one like this to remove any doubts.
Sad about Habana. 👿
Is Chavanga still injured BTW?
@KSA Shark © (Comment 5) : Good question. Didn’t he play against the Sharks the other day?
@McLovin (Comment 6) :
No i don’t think so.
@McLovin (Comment 6) :
Actually he did. 😳
Teams:
Western Province: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Wylie Human, 13 PJ Vermeulen, 12 Gcobani Bobo (captain), 11 Tonderai Chavhanga, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Pieter Louw, 5 Ross Skeate, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Wicus Blaauw.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt/Deon Fourie, 17 JC Kritzinger, 18 AJ Venter, 19 Conraad Britz, 20 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 21 Matthew Rosslee, 22 Morgan Newman.
Sharks: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Waylon Murray, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Chris Jordaan, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Keegan Daniel/Nikolai Blignaut, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Jacques Botes, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 Jannie du Plessis/BJ Botha, 2 Skipper Badenhorst, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 BJ Botha/Jannie du Plessis, 18 Steven Sykes, 19 Skholiwe Ndlovu, 20 Scott Mathie, 21 Bradley Barritt, 22 Riaan Swanepoel.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 7) : No he did. Had to check on SA rugby to confirm. But he was struggling with concussion before that. I think. But his test performances so far weren’t that hot if I remember correctly. Whether Nokwe will be any better remains to be seen.
@McLovin (Comment 9) :
Thanks i saw that already 😉 I just checked here on our own site by clicking on the WP category on the left 😉
Oh I can be so full of shit sometimes 😉