The Springboks have been rocked by the confirmation that prop Ox Nche is out of the Rugby Championship with a pectoral injury.
THE SPRINGBOKS have been rocked by the confirmation that prop Ox Nche is out of the Rugby Championship with a pectoral injury, necessitating a change to the front row for Saturday’s match against the Wallabies in Pretoria.
Steven Kitshoff will slot in for Nche and the big news is that there is a call-up for Bulls loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp, who will travel to New Zealand on Wednesday night to train with the players who departed on Tuesday.
Kitshoff was withdrawn at the last minute on Tuesday from the early travelling squad to Auckland for next week’s clash against the All Blacks, and drafted directly into the starting line-up for Loftus Versfeld.
Former Junior Springbok prop Steenekamp had his first training session with the team on Wednesday.
The #Springboks were forced to make a change to the team to face Australia in Pretoria on Saturday, with a former #JuniorBoks prop called up to the squad – more here: https://t.co/EvaQ00RD69 🔁#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/NA91GWaRy4
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 5, 2023
Experienced prop Trevor Nyakane is also training with the squad in Pretoria and will continue to serve as backup cover with Elton Jantjies (flyhalf) and Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalf) for the Australia Test.
“It’s never ideal to lose a player to injury days before an important Test match, but unfortunately it’s part of the game,” said coach Jacques Nienaber.
“We are particularly sad for Ox because he’s been working very hard in the last few months and making a great contribution on and off the field. We wish him a speedy recovery.”
Ox Nche injury update from the #Springboks coach 🚨#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/2fZD01zXCJ
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 4, 2023
Nienaber added: “On the upside, we have players like Steven and Trevor to fall back on, and with both players having been with us in Pretoria for the last three-and-a-half weeks, it’s an easy switch for this match.
“We’ve always emphasised the importance of being adaptable as a team and that will be particularly important this season with the Rugby Championship, World Cup warm-up games and the global showpiece itself coming up.”
Nienaber added: “We are fortunate to have such depth at our disposal. We’ve been tracking between 50 and 60 players in the last few seasons with an eye on the World Cup, so we know what talent we have at our disposal.
“This will also be a fantastic opportunity for Gerhard to experience our systems and to be in the national setup. He’s been impressive for the Bulls this season and he’s a former Junior Springbok, so we are excited to see what he has to offer at training.”
