Yokohama Canon Eagles scrum-half Faf de Klerk has been left out of the Springboks squad for their Rugby Championship Test matches against New Zealand and could be a long-term absentee.
Journalist Hendrik Cronje of Afrikaans-language weekly newspaper Rapport reported that the 32-year-old back-to-back World Cup winner is struggling with a quad injury.
The former Sale Sharks star was forced to withdraw from League One in January to return to his homeland for knee surgery. His Category C (capped by an international country other than Japan) spot went to compatriot Rohan Janse van Rensburg who joined the club on a short-term deal in February.
Faf served as a water boy for his club for the final matches of the season as the South African-laden side suffered narrow defeats in the play-off semi-final to Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights and in the third-place match with Suntory Sungoliath.
The Mbombela native was left out of Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s 37-man squad for their two Tests against New Zealand which will be played in Johannesburg on 31 August and in Cape Town on 7 September.
Fellow scrum-half Herschel Jantjies, who plays for the Stormers in the URC, has also been ruled out while Urayasu D-Rocks' new signing Jasper Wiese returns.
Locks Lood de Jager, of Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights, and Honda Heat’s Franco Mostert also miss out through injury.
The severity of de Klerk’s injury is being monitored with some fears that he could even miss his country’s November Tests but his head coach did not specifically address his long-time scrum-half's status during his squad announcement on Tuesday.
Erasmus said: “Similarly to the coaches, they are fully aware that this will be a new challenge in intense matches between two of the biggest rivals in world rugby, but the experienced they gained by facing in Australia in two tough Test matches overseas – one of which was in extreme weather conditions – will set them in good stead going into this series.”
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