Latest injury updates to note for Springboks

One of the biggest snippets of news to note from this month was the fact that Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi had to leave the field after just 22 minutes of his comeback game for his French club Racing 92.

Kolisi had just made his return from injury, but appeared to have sprained his right ankle in the round of 16 clash.

There will now be an anxious wait to see how long Kolisi might be sidelined for as the 2024 Test season looms on the horizon. As it stands, a timeline on his recovery has not been provided as yet.

THE LATEST KOLISI SETBACK COMES AFTER MIXED NEWS ON THE SPRINGBOKS’ INJURY FRONT

According to other recent reports, world-class hooker Malcolm Marx is on track to return for the Test against Wales at Twickenham on 22 June.

Marx suffered a shocking knee injury during a training session at the World Cup last year, and has been out of action ever since.

Although he may be on track to recover just in time for the Springboks’ Test season, he won’t have played any rugby before the opening game, and so he will need to be reintegrated to action gradually.

As it is, utility forward Deon Fourie is expected to miss the July series after suffering a knee injury while playing for the Stormers in the Champions Cup.

His chances of making the Bok squad have again diminished significantly, although the chances were always going to be slim.

In terms of other injuries, Ulster have just announced that Springbok loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff has sustained a season-ending knee injury. With just a few rounds left of the URC and Ulster out of EPCR competitions, it is unclear what “season-ending” may mean, but it certainly is a concern ahead of the Bok test season.

“Steven Kitshoff suffered a knee injury against Clermont in the EPCR Challenge Cup Quarter-Final fixture and following a scan and specialist opinion it has been determined that unfortunately this is season- ending,” an injury update from the Northern Irish team said.

“He will travel back to South Africa this week, where he will see a knee specialist to decide on the required treatment plan.”

Walking wounded

Then there is the eye socket injury to another World Cup winner in Jean Kleyn, who has received treatment in America, although the prognosis of how long he is out is unclear.

“There has been a bit said about Jean Kleyn’s eye injury,” Munster coach Graham Rowntree said on Thursday.

“He has been to America and we are very happy with the plan for him going forward. He will be available for the start of next season.” 

Rowntree was asked if that meant Kleyn could be involved for the Springboks vs Ireland and said:  “It could, it could be, yeah. I never thought about that. Crikey, thanks for reminding me.

“There was a bit of confusion in the Irish media that his eye injury may be worse than suggested, but no, he has seen a specialist in America, and he and we are very happy with the plan going forward.

“He will be available for next season. When the next season starts, I can’t tell you exactly.”

The third long term injury is that of World Cup flanker Marco van Staden, although that hasn’t been as serious as first thought with Bulls Director of Rugby Jake White saying that it is a matter of a few weeks before he returns.

Van Staden is likely to feature for the Bulls in the URC playoffs.