Early Injuries....

There have been a few early injuries in the starting weeks of Super Rugby, with a majority of injuries coming to key Springboks.
Juan Smith, Bakkies Botha, Jaques Fourie & Schalk Burger are all out this weekend, with the Stormers and the Cheetahs taking the biggest hit out of he three teams.

Juan Smith

Juan Smith is a massive loss for the Cheetahs and possibly the Springboks. He has torn his Achilles and will be out for the rest of the Super Rugby competition and may not be fit for the World Cup. Naas Olivier will be standing in as Captain and lets hope they can build on a positive start to the campaign. Smith is replaced by Ashley Johnson. 

Bakkies Botha is being rested this week after bruising his foot. He will be replaced by Springbok Danie Rossouw who is more than capable of filling in at lock or in the loose forwards.

Jaques Fourie and Schalk Burger will be replaced by Juan de Jongh and Pieter Louw respectively with the major concern coming with the bench cover and not the starting line up replacements. Both de Jongh and Louw have played Super 14 rugby and are more than capable of doing the job and more. they are extremely hard workers and have a little x-factor to add, especially with de Jongh at 13. I am interested to see who and when coach, Allister Coetzee, will make changes and what impact they will have.


I am looking forward to seeing the youngsters, de Jongh, Louw and Johnson in action this weekend as the talent is evident in these three players. They have rightfully been playing second fiddle to extremely talented and  in form Springboks but now is there time to shine!