Handré Pollard was almost in tears when he alerted the Springboks to an injury during training this week ahead of Saturday’s second Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry clash against the All Blacks in Cape Town (5.10pm kick-off).
Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick revealed on Friday that Pollard hurt his calf during training on Wednesday before approaching management to report the injury, with a decision subsequently made to withdraw him from the match.
The Boks only announced Pollard’s withdrawal on Friday morning, ahead of the team’s captain’s run at DHL Stadium. There was no sign of the flyhalf at training, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotting back into the No 10 jersey and Manie Libbok covering the position from the bench.
Cheslin Kolbe also recovered in time to be included after he was initially left out of the side when head coach Rassie Erasmus announced his team on Monday.
According to Stick, it was a particularly sad situation for Pollard and the team. He added that there is no indication yet of how long the double Rugby World Cup winner will be sidelined.
"For a leader like him to be honest about how he feels and put his pride aside, in a sense, to say, 'Listen, I’m not feeling well,' it was tough. At that moment in the training session, I could see he was going to tears," Stick said on Friday.
"I know it’s a sad thing to lose a player like that, especially when he has been in such good shape and working very hard, even when he was not in the matchday 23. But we have Sacha back in the starting line-up and Manie is on the bench.
"Handré has been positive and trying to assist the guys, so I feel for him. Hopefully, he can recover quickly. He went for testing now, but I can’t say how long he is going to be out for."
Although the Boks will be without one of their most experienced players, Stick believes they have done enough preparation to turn things around on Saturday following the 33-16 loss. They failed to convert plenty of opportunities they created in Johannesburg, and on Saturday it is all about taking those and ensuring they limit the chances of the All Blacks.
"Unfortunately, life is about that. If you don’t take your opportunities, someone else will, you know? That’s exactly what happened last week. With the few opportunities the All Blacks had in that game, they turned them into points.
"But there is another opportunity (Saturday) and we’ve done everything in our power to ensure that the players are ready. You can’t ask for any better venue than Cape Town to turn things around."