Matfield and Coetzee doubts for South Africa
Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer may be missing Victor Matfield and Marcell Coetzee for their game with the All Blacks.
South Africa could be without captain Victor Matfield and flanker Marcell Coetzee for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash with New Zealand.
Matfield and Coetzee suffered injuries in the Springboks 24-20 loss to Australia last Saturday. Skipper Matfield strained a hamstring while Coetzee sustained a knock to his knee.
Jannie du Plessis and Schalk Burger also picked up knocks and are due to be assessed ahead of this weekend's game in Johannesburg.
"Both are doubtful to play this weekend, but luckily neither of them are in doubt to miss the Rugby World Cup," team doctor Craig Roberts said of Matfield and Coetzee.
"Jannie du Plessis and Schalk Burger also picked up knocks in Brisbane on Saturday and we will reassess them at our first training session of the week, on Tuesday. Apart from a lot of bumps and bruises, the rest of the squad should be fit for selection."
Lock Pieter-Steph du Toit is to return to the squad for reassessment following a knee injury but, with the only three fit players at that position Flip van der Merwe has been called up by coach Heyneke Meyer, who is refusing to rush back regular captain Jean de Villiers from his knee problem, despite the centre playing 60 minutes for Western Province last weekend.
"Flip is very experienced and can cover both lock positions, so it made sense to pro-actively assess our options and bring him in," Meyer said.
"The plan was never for Jean to play against Australia and New Zealand and even though Victor and Schalk are injured, we're not going to rush him back.
"If Victor can't play on Saturday, we'll make a call on the captaincy and announce it when the team is named on Wednesday."