- Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said there were no conspiracy theories to read into with regards to the composition of his World Cup squad as all of his 33 players are fit for the World Cup.
- Nienaber included Lukhanyo Am and Handre Pollard in their travelling group as standby players as they are in different stages of their injury recovery.
- The Springboks depart for France on Saturday via the United Kingdom, where they will play Wales (19 August in Cardiff) and the All Blacks (25 August in London) in two warm-up games.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber cleared the air regarding any swirling conspiracies about the composition of his squad, saying his entire 33-man World Cup squad is in more than fine fettle to put their best foot forward for next month’s tournament.
The Springboks depart for the United Kingdom on Saturday where their warm-up game trail ahead of the World Cup will see them play Wales in Cardiff on 19 August before facing the All Blacks on 25 August in London.
Nienaber’s 33-man group contains four scrumhalves and, crucially, two players in the travelling standby group in Handre Pollard and Lukhanyo Am, who are at various stages of recovery from calf and knee injuries respectively.
Nienaber said Pollard, who hasn’t played a Test for the Boks since August last year against Australia in Adelaide, is fit, but at 20 to 25 percent of where he needs to be from a match-readiness perspective.
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“There are a lot of rumours flying around about the squad, about this plot that we’re going to take four scrum-halves and we’re going to put Handre in,” Nienaber said at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg on Saturday.
“But if you have a heart, how do you pick a guy and then tell him to fake an injury and get the other guy in? We would never do that.”
“I think one must start explaining by first saying that, if there are no injuries, the whole 33 will go and come back.
“The thing about Handre is that he’s not injured now, and he trained with us for two sessions, but he’s still on his way back from a fitness perspective.
“We’ve got six years of data on our players in terms of what it takes to get them ready to give us an opportunity to win a game on Saturday.
“There are particular metrics to judge that and Handre is at about 20 to 25 percent of the loads, having done an attack and defence session.
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“It’s like having to prepare for the Comrades in three weeks, but only running 10kms in a week. You might walk and make it, but there will be luck involved.
“Lukhanyo is still injured, and he’ll follow return-to-play protocols, but Pollard has recovered and he’s at the protocols where we can press him.
“We can push him to 80 percent, but it increases the risk of being injured in the next three to four weeks.”
Nienaber said their squad planning is on point since their deadline for submitting their Rugby World Cup squad is on 21 August.
They’ll only have next week’s Cardiff game to tie up any fitness and form loose ends before the final submission.
Nienaber said warm-up games will always have their casualties, with last week’s win against Argentina in Buenos Aires jeopardising Am’s World Cup participation.
Nienaber said the timing and extent of the injuries, which are inevitable, will determine which changes will be made.
“We haven’t given the squad in because it only really has to be in on 21 August, and I’m not sure if the other teams haven’t given there’s in,” Nienaber said.
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“We are all playing warm-up games and we’ll all probably lose players. We normally lose a player or two due to injury.
“Cheslin Kolbe rolled his ankle during the 2019 World Cup and the prognosis was for him to be ready for the next game.
“It’s when a guy has an injury and is going to be out for 28 days. That’s four weeks, then a tough call will have to be made.
“If it’s at the start of the World Cup, it’s easier, but it’s harder later in the tournament. This was the hard lesson we learned at the 2011 World Cup where at some point, they only had 17 guys fit because of various niggles.”
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