Pieter-Steph’s pain, Franco’s gain – injury forces a change in Bok squad
Pieter-Steph du Toit has been withdrawn from the Springbok squad after a scan revealed on Monday that he has suffered a grade two hamstring tear over the weekend.
Pieter-Steph du Toit has been withdrawn from the Springbok squad after a scan revealed on Monday that he has suffered a grade two hamstring tear over the weekend.
Pieter-Steph du Toit produced a remarkable feat when he was named the SA Rugby Player of the Year for 2018, marking the second time in three years that the athletic Springbok forward scooped the top award in South African rugby.
The South African Rugby Union appeared before a parliamentary committee this week. On the agenda was the state of its financial affairs and transformation.
The Springboks have the potential to win the Rugby World Cup, agreed the coaches of South Africa and England, despite a “terrible” performance in a 25-10 defeat in the third and final test of the Castle Lager Incoming Series at a sodden DHL Newlands in Cape Town.
Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby, offered no excuses for the Springboks’ narrow 22-20 loss against Wales in difficult conditions in Washington DC on Saturday evening.
Pieter-Steph du Toit will captain a young Springbok team featuring seven uncapped players in the starting line-up against Wales on Saturday evening (SA time) in Washington DC.
After being touted as a future Springbok captain for a couple of seasons, Siya Kolisi finally becomes the first black player to take charge of the national team.
Only one player has been dropped from the team that played against Australia – the 95-cap veteran Beast Mtawarira – for the game against the All Blacks.
Inevitably a conversation about the Springbok team becomes a conversation about transformation.
A slight tweak versus a reprieve en masse … that is probably the tormenting debate in Springbok coach Allister Coetzee’s mind.