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Springboks awaiting news on Whiteley injury
By Peter Thompson
South Africa captain Warren Whiteley is set to discover on Monday how long he will be sidelined after suffering a torn groin that kept him out of Saturday's 35-12 drubbing of France.
Eben Etzebeth led the Springboks to a resounding victory over Les Bleus at Ellis Park which sealed a 3-0 series whitewash in the absence of Whiteley, who was ruled out on the day of the game.
Lions number eight Whiteley was sent for a scan, but must now wait to learn the extent of the damage just two months before the Rugby Championship gets under way.
"Warren has been struggling with a bit of a groin strain for a while. We decided to give him as much time as possible to be declared fit, but then he landed awkwardly in a line-out session," said South Africa head coach Allister Coetzee.
"We sent him for a scan and did a little sonar that revealed that has a little tear. We didn't want to risk him. Sometimes you use a medical team to patch up a player and make it possible for him to get through a game, but we decided it wasn't worth the risk.
"The team consists of 31 players and the whole week Warren did not train with the team, so it wasn't a big disruption for us.
"I was proud of the way the team coped under pressure. Eben was vice-captain so everyone knew who would take over when Warren is out. We don't know at this stage how serious the injury to Warren is.
"He will be assessed on Monday and a decision will be taken together with the medical team of the Lions."
Etzebeth was among the four try-scorers in another encouraging display from the Springboks and the towering lock thrived on the opportunity to lead his country for the first time.
"Welcome to the best day of my life," he said.
"The last 24 hours have been unbelievable and very exciting for me. Warren was outstanding in the last few weeks, so it was difficult taking over from him, but I had leaders like Siya [Kolisi] and Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] backing me. Everyone is a captain in his own position, so it was easy for me to take over.
"There has been great preparation this year and that has built up a feeling of brotherhood in the team. I would say that the last three weeks have been the best three weeks with the Springboks for me."
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Nice one John. I agree that defence (along with backfield kick receipt/positioning) remains their biggest issue, but that I did see some small improvements in it despite the scoreline like the additional jackal attempts from guys like tupou and the better linespeed in tight. But, I still see two issues - 1) yes they are jackaling, but as you point out they aren't slowing the ball down. I think some dark arts around committing an extra tackler, choke tackles, or a slower roll away etc could help at times as at the moment its too easy for oppo teams to get quick ball (they miss L wright). Do you have average ruck speed? I feel like teams are pretty happy these days to cop a tackle behind the ad line if they still get quick ball... and 2) I still think the defence wide of the 3-4th forward man out looks leaky and disconnected and if sua'ali'i is going to stay at 13 I think we could see some real pressure through that channel from other teams. The wallabies discipline has improved and so they are giving away less 3 pt opportunities and kicks into their 22 via penalty. Now, they need to be able to force teams to turnover the ball and hold them out. They scramble quite well once a break is made, but they seem to need the break to happen first... Hunter, marika and daugunu were other handy players to put ruck pressure on. Under rennie, they used to counter ruck quite effectively to put pressure on at the b/down as well.
Go to commentsYes, probably why he still annoys me even now
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