Johannesburg – Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has backed hooker Adriaan Strauss in the absence of injured Bismarck du Plessis ahead of their second Rugby Championship Test against Argentina on Saturday.
Du Plessis was set to undergo surgery on Tuesday to correct damage to ligaments in his right knee which he sustained during last week's opening Test against the Pumas in Cape Town.
Strauss replaced Du Plessis in South Africa's 27-6 victory at Newlands and Meyer was pleased with his form.
“Adriaan's had a great Super Rugby tournament,” Meyer said.
“He's proved himself this year as one of the top hookers in the world.
“He has not played for a few weeks because the Cheetahs did not reach the playoffs, but I think he was awesome on Saturday.”
Du Plessis was replaced in the squad by Craig Burden, who took part in his first Springbok training session in Mendoza on Monday afternoon.
“Obviously our big loss from the weekend is Bismarck du Plessis, who injured his knee ligaments very early in the game,” said team doctor Craig Roberts.
“He's going to have surgery and that will rule him out for the rest of the season as the usual rehabilitation for such an injury is up to eight months to come back from that.”
The other two players that took knocks at the weekend, Bryan Habana and Andries Bekker, both rolled their ankles.
“At the moment we are managing them,” Roberts said.
“They didn't train today and we will make an assessment on their availability later in the week.”
The Boks trained in near perfect conditions on Monday in front of more than 1 000 fans at the Chacras Rugby Club on the outskirts of the city.
“We are very honoured to have such a magnificent turn-out at our training session,” Meyer said.
“It's clear the people around these parts love their rugby and we're excited to play in front of a sold out stadium on Saturday.
“It's really humbling to see people from another country show their support like this.
“When one sees this, you realise how great it is that Argentina have been added to the Castle Rugby Championship.” – Sapa