Injured Pollard and Am released from Springbok squad
Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard and centre Lukhanyo Am will return to their clubs after being ruled out of Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Sydney.
Both players suffered knee injuries against Australia and will now undergo further medical assessment.
Elton Jantjies and Pieter-Steph du Toit will remain in camp, as they are expected to recover sufficiently from their injuries for the last two matches of the team’s campaign.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said no replacements would be called up at this stage.
“It’s always unfortunate to lose players in a squad, but this opens the door for other players to step in and showcase what they can do in those positions,” said Nienaber.
“We will now have 32 players in camp and with Elton expected to recover for the matches against Argentina and players such as Andre (Esterhuizen) and Jesse (Kriel) and Frans (Steyn) all being capable centres, we are well covered.
“Our plan from the outset of the season was to give most of the players in our expanded squad game time as we build towards the Rugby World Cup, and this involved rotating a few players, so we’ll use this opportunity to build our depth.”
