Rugby Championship: South Africa's concerns over Duane Vermeulen and Bryan Habana
Wednesday 1 October 2014 18:42, UK
South Africa have two injury concerns ahead of their final Rugby Championship match against already crowned champions New Zealand in Johannesburg on Saturday.
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No 8 Duane Vermeulen, one of the stand-out performers for the Springboks in 2014, is battling with a rib injury sustained in the 28-10 victory over Australia and will face a late fitness test on match-day.
"Duane fell awkwardly and injured a rib cartilage," said South Africa team doctor Craig Roberts.
"Due to discomfort he was unable to continue playing and was substituted. He's responded well to treatment but we will still manage him through training this week before making a final call on his availability to face New Zealand on Saturday."
Veteran back row Schalk Burger would take over at the back of the scrum should Vermeulen miss out.
The only other injury concern is wing Bryan Habana, who took a blow to the head while making a tackle in the build-up to the Wallabies' only try in Cape Town.
"Bryan left the field and the standard head injury assessment was conducted by the match doctor, which cleared him to return to play," Roberts said.
"Although Bryan returned to the field late in the first half, he developed some symptoms of concussion at the break and we decided to replace him permanently with JP Pietersen.
"He will need to follow the standard stepwise post-concussion return to play protocol before being considered for the Test at Ellis Park."
The Springbok team to face New Zealand will be named on Wednesday.
Watch South Africa v New Zealand on Sky Sports 2 HD on Saturday (kick-off 16.05)
