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'That's a mouthful but I'm pleased there is now clarity'
Springboks boss Jacques Nienaber has finally explained why injured Springboks Cobus Reinach and Johan Goosen have stayed with the national team in Pretoria while injured duo Frans Steyn and Duane Vermeulen weren’t included. Nienaber named a 43-strong Springboks squad last Saturday for the upcoming Test season that begins with the visit by Wales for a three-game series.
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With the head coach not doing media to accompany his weekend announcement, much speculation was generated since then and it was only Tuesday afternoon when some clarity was finally given on the confusing situation.
Vermeulen, the long-time Springboks No8 who played 80 minutes for Ulster in Cape Town on Saturday, and the equally seasoned Steyn were the two notable squad omissions later that evening and Nienaber has now spoken about the knee operation that the back row will undergo this week and how his conversation went with the utility back who picked up an injury playing Currie Cup recently.
In contrast with that pair’s Springboks squad exclusion, though, Bulls out-half Goosen has stayed with the squad despite his injury as has Reinach, who wasn’t named in the 43 but is still with them at camp in Pretoria. “Let’s start with Johan Goosen,” said Nienaber, addressing the speculation that has ignited since the weekend about injured players who are in the Springboks squad and those who are not.
“He got an injury a while back and he is someone we are looking to cover as a fly-half but he is a guy we have never worked with before. We just thought it was a great opportunity seeing as our camp is in Pretoria that we get him in, to put him into the alignments camps and now in camp so that he can see how we operate, how we work, how information gets distributed.
“That was the thinking about including Johan for these three weeks but when we move on from here and go into the Test matches in Bloemfontein and Cape Town and playing against New Zealand, he will stay with the Bulls and finish his rehab with them and then start the URC next season playing a couple of games with them. If everything goes well and his performance is good, he can join us on the end-of-year tour.
“Duane and Frans got injured while playing for their clubs (Ulster and the Cheetahs respectively),” continued Nienaber, switching to the Springboks situation regarding Vermeulen and Steyn. “Duane will go for a procedure and Frans has done a hamstring, so he is under rehabilitation with his club.
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“We had a good conversation with Frans. He is a player that we will probably pull into the squad during this year but we had an open conversion between us, ‘Do your rehab, make sure that you are 100 per cent right, make sure you are in good physical conditioning and if pick up an injury we will pull you into the squad ASAP’.
“It finished, ‘Don’t be hasty with your injury’. He understood how we see the plan going forward with him and he understands how we think. The moment Frans is ready to go, good to go and is medically fit and there is an opportunity for us to pull him in, we will.
“Duane is going for a procedure this week and has got clearance from his club to do his rehabilitation in South Africa. He will go through the procedure, through the rehab and once he is cleared by his club we can pull him into our squad.
“Then the other one is Cobus. He had an injury a while back, he came for an operation in South Africa and he asked the club [MOntpellier] if it was fine he does his rehab here in South Africa. They agreed to do that so he is currently doing his rehab in South Africa but the same as with Duane, he needs to get clearance from his club after his rehab is completed, he has to fly back to Montpellier, their medical doctors have to check him out and once they clear him we can pull him into our environment.
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“That is a mouthful but I’m pleased there is now clarity in terms of why certain injured guys are with us. The short answer is their clubs gave permission for them to do that and they are doing their rehab in South Africa and then some of the guys that got injured now in the last part of the season are still with their clubs and haven’t had any procedures done on them so they need to go through the whole process and once the club then releases them medically we can pull them into our squad.
“And Frans Steyn, we had a nice conversation, he knows where he stands with us and like I say, he has got to do his rehab and once we need him we will just pull him up if he is in good shape and keeps himself fit,” concluded the Springboks boss.
Comments on RugbyPass
One tough SOB!
15 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
1 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
15 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
15 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
18 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to commentsBrumbies will win, crusaders are pretty awful this year
1 Go to commentsThis has the makings of a good match. That’s Leinster’s second team but its a good one (stronger than the teams in SA recently). Ulster are really turning a page. Ryan back is huge, and Keenan too. This could be a cracker.
1 Go to commentsThe Farrells are one of the great father and son combinations. Andy was an RL great, and had he played Union as his first sport, I would be sure he would have been avery significant forcewas in League. And Owen, a Union great, who had he played League, would could have been a great there too i all probability. I feel my attitude to Owen has mellowed as he has aged, and in the post Jones era, evolved and shown his full range of talents. He really is an all round player, and I have wold hope his move to France will be successful. He may even be the piece in the jigsaw that Racing need to rise to challenge Toulouse and LAR. He is ofc now approaching 33 years of age but should still have enough left to make a big contribution in France for at least2/3 years.
45 Go to commentsI reckon it may be Jordan at 10 and Nohamba at 9, both players have played together alot and both have been on the Radar for a long time. After Pollard got injured in 2022 with Elton sidelined on a path of self destruction Erasmus and Nienaber indicated that the other options in the country at the time were thin but that Jordan and Manie were the 2 they were looking at. In the end Frans steyn played flyhalf, Willemse slotted in there on the end of year with Libbok as back up. Jordan was right there in the thinking back then so expect him to take the Jersey either as the starter.
2 Go to commentsHaha did he also* say it in a sarcastic teacher sort of manor or was it the petulant English snob sort of wail?
45 Go to commentsWell said Mils. It is a big boost at last having Fergus Burke back at 10 for the Crusaders. Had a great season last year as the article says. Mils is also right about captain Codie Taylor’s performance in his return to the Crusaders last week. He was all class.
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