Western Province have suffered a double injury blow ahead of Saturday's Currie Cup clash against Griquas.
Wing Gus Theron was ruled out and the Springbok due to replace him became a doubtful starter.
Breyton Paulse was expected to return to action in Kimberley. In fact, he trained at the Bellville Rugby Club on Tuesday, but was deemed "unlikely" to play.
This will most likely open the door for Egon Seconds, who was the talk of the training session after losing his dreadlocks in favour of a new haircut.
Paulse's knee will be assessed on Wednesday, and Bok coach Rudolf Straeuli will no doubt also keep an anxious eye on proceedings.
The WP wing can raise the standard of play in South Africa's troublesome right-wing berth considerably if available.
Paulse is the ideal man to replace Stefan Terblanche, who has disappointed for the Boks.
Despite having a prolific try-scorer like Seconds available, WP coach Carel du Plessis will also be delighted that Theron's injury is minor and that he should be available next week.
Theron was recently called up to the Bok squad and was set to start at right wing in place of Terblanche in the Tri-Nations Test against Australia until he suffered the unfortunate fate of having to withdraw due to a hamstring injury. He is also an option at centre.
For now, Jean de Villiers's summons to join the World Cup training squad has opened up an opportunity for Joos Joubert to partner Robbie Fleck in midfield.
Du Plessis, however, believes De Villiers would have benefited from more game time at WP.
"He needs game time to hone his decision-making. That way he will be much sharper. But I understand that they want to get the World Cup training group together as soon as possible," he said.
Other minor setbacks are the non-availability of flank Pierre Uys and hooker Tjoepie van den Heever.
Both were in bed on Tuesday suffering from flu symptoms.
At lock, Hottie Louw comes in to partner Rob Linde following Quinton Davids's call-up to the national squad.
Adri Badenhorst is back in the mix at loose forward after recovering sooner than expected from a hamstring injury.
He will challenge Pietie Ferreira for the No 8 position.
Pat Barnard will also get a chance in the starting line-up this weekend, replacing tighthead prop Cobus Visagie in a rotational move.
Saturday's match is one in which nothing but maximum points will do for WP as they are up against a Griquas side that have lost all four their games thus far. A match against the bottom-of-the-log team is the perfect way to stay in touch with the front-runners.