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Injury to Am forces Springboks into call-up
By Online Editors
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has been forced to bring in extra injury cover for Lukhanyo Am, who is unlikely to be fit for the first two Tests of their November tour to Europe.
Am sustained a fractured arm in the win against the All Blacks in Wellington last month and indications are that he will not be ready for the Tests against England, on Saturday 3 November at Twickenham, and a week later against France in Paris on 10 November.
As a result, Lionel Mapoe, capped 14 times for South Africa, was added to the Springbok training squad currently preparing in Stellenbosch.
The 20-man squad, minus lock Franco Mostert, who appears to be in a curious tug-of-war between the Johannesburg-based Lions and English Premiership club Gloucester, have been fine-tuning preparations ahead of the trip north.
The final tour squad is named after the 2018 Currie Cup Final on Saturday evening, between DHL Western Province and the Cell C Sharks.
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Latest Comments
The match experience still sucks at SR games, irrespective of the game being a little quicker. Rugby has to compete with so much in the modern world, if you’re going to get people to leave their houses and pay to watch a game in winter then the experience has to be worthwhile.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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