Boks express concern about two Bulls players’ rib injuries

The Springboks are holding thumbs injuries suffered by two Bulls players, namely Marco van Staden and Sbu Nkosi, at the weekend will not prevent them from touring with the national team in Europe during November.

Both players picked up the injuries during the Bulls’ 40-27 United Rugby Championship win against the Sharks in Pretoria on Sunday.

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The Boks are awaiting the results of scans on the rib injuries suffered by both men before they fly out to join the rest of the squad in Europe.

The Boks face Ireland (Saturday), France (12 November), Italy (19 November) and England (26 November) in Tests in November.

Van Staden and Nkosi were scheduled to depart for Dublin on Sunday night, following their game at Loftus Versfeld but were forced to remain in South Africa for the scans and medical assessments.

“We’ll wait for the outcome of their medical scans and once we know how serious it is we’ll decide if they will join the squad and if so, when. Fortunately, we have sufficient cover at loose forward and among the outside backs to allow us to train fully and select a quality team,” said director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

Arrival in Dublin

The main Springbok touring group, meanwhile, arrived in Dublin late on Sunday night after their flight from Johannesburg to Dubai en route to Dublin was delayed by close to five hours, which resulted in a lengthy layover in Dubai before the team flew to Dublin.

The travelling squad joined the other 11 players (the Stormers players and the Europe and UK-based players) who arrived in Dublin on Sunday afternoon, while Cheslin Kolbe will join the team on Monday following Toulon’s 27-26 defeat against Bordeaux on Sunday night.

“We are pleased to be in Dublin, and thanks to the swift planning from our operations team following the announcement that our flight to Dubai was delayed and the resultant longer layover in Dubai, we were able to ensure that the players remained as comfortable as possible throughout the journey,” said Erasmus.

“The entire squad with the exception of the injured players and Cheslin reported for duty in Dublin on Sunday night and despite a few changes to our programme, we have a full training day on Monday.”

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber will announce his matchday squad to face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.