Boks lose Am and Pollard
|Published
MASSIVE BLOW: Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am, right, has been in kwaai form
Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard and centre Lukhanyo Am have been sent back to their respective clubs to recover from knee injuries suffered in last weekend’s 25-17 Rugby Championship defeat to Australia.
The duo was replaced in this Saturday’s second match against the Wallabies in Sydney by Damian Willemse and Jesse Kriel respectively.
Am, who has been one of the outstanding Springboks in the tournament to date, will return to the Sharks, while Pollard, who was struggling in the last match, will return to his French club Montpellier to recover.
The Springbok management team will not call up any replacements as it stands, with the team travelling to Argentina next week, before hosting the Pumas in their final match of the tournament.
Coach Jacques Nienaber says of the setbacks: “It’s always unfortunate to lose players in a squad, but this opens the door for other players to step in and showcase what they can do in those positions.
“We will now have 32 players in camp and with Elton expected to recover for the matches against Argentina and players such as Andre [Esterhuizen] and Jesse [Kriel] and Frans [Steyn] all being capable centres, we are well covered.
👎 Bad news on the injury front for the Boks as Pollard and Am are released from the squad - more here: https://t.co/lIePgztvvN#StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #CastleRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/ntUA6cc8W6
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 31, 2022
“Our plan from the outset of the season was to give most of the players in our expanded squad game time as we build towards the Rugby World Cup, and this involved rotating a few players, so we’ll use this opportunity to build our depth.”