Etzebeth Boks’ only injury concern

Lock Eben Etzebeth is the lone entry on the Springboks’ injury list ahead of their 2015 RWC opener against Japan on Saturday, at the Brighton Community Stadium in the southern coastal city of Brighton, England.

Speaking at the team hotel in Eastbourne on Sunday, Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts told the media that coach Heyneke Meyer was free to choose anyone in the 31-member squad apart from Etzebeth.

“There are a few guys with snotty noses (as a result of influenza) that we’re dealing with at the moment but nothing serious,” said Roberts. “The one guy we’re concerned with is Eben Etzebeth who is coming back from a calf injury.

“He started running last week and will progress his running this week. A decision on his availability will be made later this week otherwise it is up to the (Springbok) coach to select the players he wants for the first game.”

There have been concerns about experienced players who have not played much this year because of long-term injuries but have still been called up for World Cup duty.

“Experienced players return to form generally quicker than inexperienced players. For us, the important thing is to get the guys (returning from injuries) on the field and to get those performing will be the key thing. Luckily, we have four pool games and hopefully that goes well and we can take that (form) into the second part (knock-out stages) of the tournament.

“We’ve had a plan for each (injured) guy and it’s nice to see that plan coming together. We’ve had bad injuries and it has been a long, hard road. Rugby is a collision sport and players pick up injuries on the field.”

Roberts said the Boks were pleased to arrive in England on Saturday without the bother of working off jetlag after flying out from South Africa on Saturday evening.

“It was nice to have an overnight flight and not to have jetlag. We can hit the ground running tomorrow (Monday) when the guys are in good shape,” said Roberts. “We obviously didn’t train today (Sunday) and yesterday (Saturday) so we can start our Test week in terms of out training.”

Roberts pointed out that the long-term injuries ensured that the Springboks’ medical team has loads of time to work on players’ conditioning.

“In a way, it has been a blessing that some guys didn’t play rugby. It enabled us to work to really hard on conditioning and strength work that they really needed.”

The Boks will train at Eastbourne College on Monday morning.