The Springboks are heading to London for a Rugby Championship decider against Argentina after claiming a memorable 67-30 victory in Durban on Saturday.
South Africa’s bonus-point win moved the Springboks to 15 points on the Rugby Championship log, one more than the All Blacks, with one round of matches to go.
The Springboks will know exactly what they need to do to clinch the title by the time they take the field as New Zealand (14 points) and Australia (11 points) will battle it out in their final Bledisloe Cup match earlier in the day.
Springboks count injury cost
After the latest encounter, there are three injury concerns for the Springboks, and in particular it seems that Damian Willemse will certainly be unavailable for the tournament finale in London.
Towards the end of the Test at Kings Park, Erasmus had to juggle his backline with injuries to Cheslin Kolbe (shoulder), Damian Willemse (hamstring) and Ethan Hooker (ankle) in the second half, which meant the team finished with an entirely reshuffled backline.
With Kolbe and Hooker battling injuries, there could be some concern as although Kurt-Lee Arendse is soon expected to be back from an injury of his own, it’s only expected to be in time for the end-of-year tour.
It could necessitate a return to the wing next weekend for Canan Moodie, who was excellent once again in the No 13 jersey in Durban.
“The Rugby Championship has not been won yet,” Moodie said after the match.
“We know there’s still a job to do next week, and there’s an element of travel on Sunday, so we’ll just keep our heads down and continue doing the hard work to hopefully get the result next weekend. Then we’ll have something to celebrate.”
ON THE ‘ROAD’ AGAIN
The entire squad that was selected for the Argentina leg of the tournament will depart for London on Sunday night from Johannesburg and arrive in the UK on Monday morning, before returning to the training field on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Lood de Jager is another player who is said to be making a good recovery from injury, and the powerful lock should also be available for the November Tests.
