Cape Town – The Springboks won’t have the powerful presence of Julian Redelinghuys to prop up their scrum, but Trevor Nyakane will be back from an ankle injury for Saturday’s return Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Salta.
Redelinghuys was in dominant form in the set-phases, carried the ball strongly and even made a few tackles around the field in a busy opening half-hour in the Boks’ scrappy 30-23 victory at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
But unusually for a front-ranker, Redelinghuys pulled up with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Vincent Koch for the rest of the game. The SA Rugby Union confirmed on Sunday that the Lions No 3 has been ruled out for six weeks, and will be replaced by Sharks tighthead Lourens Adriaanse for next weekend’s Test.
Koch is set to make a rare start as a result, with Nyakane the likely back-up on the bench as he is viewed as a “swinger prop” who can play on both sides of the scrum.
Apart from Redelinghuys, the rest of the match-23 from Nelspruit will be joined by Adriaanse, Lions pair Malcolm Marx and Franco Mostert, as well as French-based flyhalf Morné Steyn in a 27-man tour squad. However, utility back Francois Hougaard is still sidelined with a knee problem.
The Boks will be based in Buenos Aires from Monday and travel to Salta on Friday.
“Losing Julian is a massive blow to us because it comes at a time when he is playing really good rugby. Vincent Koch extremely did well when he came on a replacement, and Julian’s injury now presents him with an ideal opportunity,” Bok coach Allister Coetzee said in a statement.
“The players showed great resilience on Saturday, they stayed calm and stuck to the plan, especially in the last 10 minutes. We continue to work and focus on our team cohesion and we know the challenge we will face in Argentina.”
The Bok coach kept faith with Johan Goosen, who battled in his return to Test rugby after a two-year absence, and has not called up a specialist fullback such as Gio Aplon or Cheslin Kolbe, while loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe is also unlucky to miss out on the trip.
Springbok tour squad
Lourens Adriaanse, Ruan Combrinck, Damian de Allende, Lood de Jager, Juan de Jongh, Faf de Klerk, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Johan Goosen, Bryan Habana (vice-captain), Elton Jantjies, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Jaco Kriel, Jesse Kriel, Francois Louw, Lionel Mapoe, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Oupa Mohoje, Franco Mostert, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Rudy Paige, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss (captain), Warren Whiteley.
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