World Cup bid hit by van Niekerk’s injury

SOUTH Africa’s World Cup campaign suffered a major setback yesterday when flanker Joe van Niekerk was ruled out of the tournament.

Van Niekerk could be sidelined for six months after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during yesterday’s 60-10 victory over Samoa in Brisbane that clinched a quarter-final place.

South Africa’s player of the year in 2002 will now be flown home to consult a specialist and probably face surgery.

South Africa have yet to decide on a possible replacement, but the loss of van Niekerk will hit them hard as they prepare for next weekend’s quarter-final.

Lock Victor Matfield (ankle) and prop Christo Bezuidenhout (knee) also picked up injuries during the Samoan match but they are expected to be fit in time.

And with the Springboks pack rapidly developing into a fearsome unit, coach Rudolf Straeuli can only hope that his quarter-final plans are not further disrupted following the loss of van Niekerk.

“If we can keep this pack together, and with the other opportunities coming from the bench, we have got depth coming from the forwards,” said Straeuli in the aftermath of a game that saw South Africa score eight tries and their exciting fly-half prospect Derick Hougaard amass 21 points.

“We are just taking it game by game. We are confident within ourselves that we have the ability.

“We have had a hard year on and off the field. We have improved day by day in terms of fitness, team spirit and unity, and I am proud to be coaching a team like this.”

Straeuli though, believes there is an issue surrounding technical infringements, and a Springboks’ perception that they are being punished more than other teams.

“We get warned a lot, but technical infringements of other teams don’t get picked up,” he added. “We are writing reports on that, and going through the right channels.”